Homelessness in the US
On a single night in 2018, roughly how many people were experiencing homelessness in the United States?
553,000 people.
About two-thirds (65%) were staying in sheltered locations—emergency shelters or transitional housing programs—and about one-third (35%) were in unsheltered locations such as on the street, in abandoned buildings, or in other places not suitable for human habitation.
True or False:
The majority of homeless New Yorkers live on the street, subway system, or in other public spaces.
False.
4,000 people sleep on the street/subway system/other public spaces. The vast majority experiencing homelessness—over 63,000 homeless men, women, and children—spend the night within the city’s shelter system where they remain unseen.
What is the poverty line per family of four living in NYC (2 adults, two children)?
$32,402
How much is the median rent for a two bedroom apartment in NYC?
$1,638 a month, $19,656 a year.
In Manhattan, a two bedroom apartment is $3,895 a month, $46,740 a year. The median household income across NYC is about $57,782. People pay about 1/3 of their income on housing, not leaving much left over for food, clothing, or medical care.
What are the three major approaches to Mayor de Blasio’s 2017 plan, Turning the Tide on Homelessness?
1. First, doing more to keep people in their homes by making housing more affordable and stopping illegal evictions.
2. Second, making long-needed operational reforms to better serve people in shelters and neighborhoods.
3. Third, a reimagined shelter strategy that:
a. Removes people from all cluster apartment units by the end of 2021 and commercial hotel facilities by the end of 2023;
b. Cuts the total number of shelter facilities by almost 45%;
c. Keeps homeless people as close as possible to their own neighborhoods and on a path to get back on track.
Name the top three states that had the greatest number of homeless people in 2018.
1. California (129,972)
2. New York (91,897)
3. Florida (31,030)
In terms of the number of homeless people, overall, the states with the greatest number tend to be the most populous. Sixty-seven percent of people experiencing homelessness can be found in the ten states with the largest number of homeless people.
True or False:
Families make up ¾ of the homeless shelter population.
True.
True or False:
Nearly 1 in 3 people living below the poverty line is a child.
True.
Poverty greatly affects children. Poverty also tends to be concentrated in neighborhoods with low-performing schools and high rates of violence, unemployment, substance abuse and teen pregnancy. All of this can have negative effects on child development and well-being, and ultimately perpetuate cycles of poverty and inequality.
What is the cost of buying a house in NYC?
According to the National Association of Realtors, the average home price in the New York metro area is $455,500.
Manhattan: $848,600
Brooklyn: $557,000
Queens: $439,500
Staten Island: $432, 600
The Bronx: $369,400
What is HOME-STAT?
For an extra 200 points: List some services that HOME-STAT provides.
HOME-STAT— Homeless Outreach & Mobile Engagement Street Action Teams— is the most comprehensive street homelessness outreach effort ever deployed in a major American city.
HOME-STAT partners existing homeless response and prevention programs with new innovations designed to better identify, engage, and transition homeless New Yorkers to appropriate services and, ultimately, permanent housing. HOME-STAT includes:
Proactive weekly canvass of every block in Manhattan plus other hot spots in other boroughs to identify people in need of services and inform the City’s contracted Street Outreach Teams.
Three comprehensive nighttime counts of New Yorkers living on the streets.
Outreach and citywide case management to ensure individuals identified through HOME-STAT and the City’s contracted Street Outreach Teams get the services they need.
A daily, weekly, and monthly public dashboard that maps 311 service requests from the public, maps data from HOME-STAT canvassing, and reports on aggregate outcomes, conditions and performance.
Name the top three states that had the highest rates of homelessness in 2018, that is compare the size of the homeless population to the size of the general population in a given area.
Per 10,000 people:
1. DC (10,000: 99)
2. Hawaii (10,000: 46)
3. New York (10,000: 46)
These states have the highest housing costs in the country. Compared to other parts of America, residents in these states spend higher percentages of their income on rent/mortgage payments. The ten states with the highest homeless rates account for 55 percent of the homeless population.
What is the primary cause of homelessness in NYC?
Lack of affordable housing. Other causes include eviction, overcrowded housing, domestic violence, job loss, and hazardous housing conditions.
True or False.
60% of New Yorkers say they don’t have enough emergency savings to cover at least 3 months’ worth of expenses like food and rent.
True.
And nearly 20% of NYC residents already live below the poverty line!
True or False:
The cost of living in New York City is about 70% higher than the national average.
True.
The cost of living in Manhattan is more than double the national average!
How many extremely low income/very low income households are there in NYC versus how many rental units affordable to extremely low income/very low income households?
1,003,434 households : 540,213 units
True or False:
African Americans are considerably overrepresented among the homeless population compared to the overall U.S. population.
True.
White Americans are the largest racial grouping, accounting for 49 percent of those experiencing homelessness, however, African Americans are dramatically overrepresented compared to their numbers in the general population. While accounting for 13 percent of the U.S. population, African Americans account for 40 percent of all people experiencing homelessness and 51 percent of people experiencing homelessness as members of families with children. In contrast, nearly 6 in 10 people experiencing unsheltered homelessness (most of whom do so as individuals) are white.
True or False:
The large majority of street homeless New Yorkers are people living with mental illness or other severe health problems.
True.
What factors raise poverty rate? What factors lower poverty rate?
Raise: childcare by 0.2%, commuting by 2.1%, payroll taxes by 2.5%, and medical spending by 2.9%
Lower: school meals by 0.6%, SNAP and income taxes by 3.3% each, social security by 5.6%, and housing adjustment by 6.1%
True or False:
New York’s public transportation system is one of the most affordable in the country.
False.
It is one of the most expensive, about 75% greater than the national average.
Fill in the blanks:
DHS shelters are organized into three groups: ___,___,___. Clients are housed in one of three type of facilities:___,___,___.
DHS shelters are organized into three groups: Families with Children, Single Adults, and Adult Families (with two or more family members over the age of 18 and no children under the age of 18). Clients are housed in one of three types of facilities:
• Shelters: Buildings in which the majority of units are occupied by homeless clients and social services are provided on site.
• Cluster Shelters: Individual apartments in buildings that usually have rent paying tenants in other apartments, with limited or no social services on site.
• Commercial Hotels: Operating hotels open to the public in which DHS rents individual rooms.