HUD: Homelessness declined by 18.7% in New York

Says Biden-Harris administration investments & actions prevented a spike in homelessness overall, led to nationwide decreases in homelessness among veterans, families, youth

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development released its 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1 to Congress. The report found that there were 582,462 people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. on a single night in January 2022. In New York, the yearly point-in-time count found 74,178 people experiencing homelessness, an 18.7% decrease from 2020.

These data reflect a single-night snapshot of homelessness in America in early 2022 and the first complete single-night count of people experiencing homelessness since the arrival of the coronavirus pandemic.

A press release stated, “The point-in-time count is one of the important measures of homelessness that the federal government uses. The yearly count captures people who are in sheltered settings and unsheltered – sleeping on the streets, in encampments, vehicles or other places not meant for human habitation. The PIT count is not meant to capture the entire universe of everyone who experiences homelessness over the year; it provides a reliable way to measure whether homelessness is going up or down from year to year, and a way to compare homelessness across communities.

“COVID-19 and its impacts on the economy could have led to significant increases in homelessness. Investments, partnerships and outreach by government agencies led to only a .3% increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness nationwide from 2020 to 2022.

“The rate of overall homelessness is due in large part to a robust federal response that prevented evictions through emergency rental assistance distributed to more than 3 million households, expanded resources for vulnerable families through the Child Tax Credit, and provided other financial transfers through stimulus.

“The Biden-Harris administration intends to not only stop but reverse the post-2016 trend of rising homelessness and reduce it 25% by 2025, as stated in All In, The Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, which was released by the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. 

National Statistics

√ Compared with 2020, homelessness among people in shelters declined by 1.6%

√ Homelessness among people in unsheltered settings increased by 3.4%

√ Veterans experiencing homelessness decreased by 11%, a 55% decrease since 2010

Between 2020 and 2022:

√ Families with children experiencing homelessness declined by 6% between 2020 and 2022, marking a total decline of 36% since 2010

√ There was a 12% decrease in the number of people under the age of 25 who experienced homelessness on their own as “unaccompanied youth”

Secretary Marcia L. Fudge said, “HUD and everyone in the Biden-Harris administration is committed to ensuring everyone has a safe, stable place to call home. Data shows that homelessness remains a national crisis, but it also shows that the historic investments this administration has made to address this issue can work. The Biden-Harris administration is committed to systemically addressing homelessness and combating the systemic racism that has created racial and ethnic disparities in homelessness.”

Alicka Ampry-Samuel, HUD regional administrator for New York and New Jersey, said, “Homelessness and its devastating effects on individuals, families and children are always top of mind at HUD. We are committed to doing everything we can to reduce the number of New Yorkers without a home. While the statistics in New York are concerning, we remain optimistic. HUD will not stop until we see a significant reduction in homelessness. HUD will continue to provide funding and available resources so that the number of homeless individuals becomes a constant decline.”

New York statistics – compared with 2020:

√ In New York, there were 70,140 people in shelters. Compared with 2020, homelessness among people in shelters declined by 16,574, or 19.1%

√ In 2022, there were 4,038 homeless people in unsheltered settings, a decrease of 519 people, or 11.4% 

√ The point-in-time count found 990 veterans experiencing homelessness in 2022, down 261, or 20.9%

√ Families with children experiencing homelessness declined by 27.5% – 34,805 counted in January, a decrease of 13,183 from 2020     

√ 2,762 people under the age of 25 experienced homelessness on their own as “unaccompanied youth,” a 10.1% decrease, or 315 less than in 2020

Chronic Homelessness – New York

HUD defines chronic homelessness as an individual who has experienced homelessness for a year or longer or has experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years and has a disability.

Also, per HUD:

In New York, the 2022 point-in-time count found 5,994 chronically homeless individuals, 433 less than in 2020, a 6.7% reduction in chronic homelessness.

Nationwide, the overall number of people experiencing homelessness in 2022 increased slightly compared with 2020. Homelessness rose significantly for individuals, people with disabilities who experience long-term homelessness, and people in unsheltered settings.

Single individuals that are not part of family households continue to represent the largest group of people experiencing homelessness. Homelessness among single individuals increased by 3.1%. The number of chronically homeless individuals (individuals with disabilities who have been homeless for long periods of time) increased by 16% between 2020 and 2022.

There continues to be an overrepresentation of people who identify as Black, African American, or African, as well as indigenous people (including Native Americans and Pacific Islanders) among people experiencing homelessness.

The data shows that overall homelessness remained relatively unchanged despite the economic challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic. This may be due in large part to federal actions that provided communities with additional homeless assistance resources and regulatory flexibilities, prevented renters from evictions through emergency rental assistance, expanded resources for vulnerable families through the Child Tax Credit, and provided other financial transfers through stimulus.

The press release added, “These results, however, do not reflect the full impact of the Biden-Harris administration’s American Rescue Plan and HUD’s House America initiative, which largely took place during calendar year 2022. For instance, the majority of HUD’s emergency housing voucher program lease-ups took place during 2022. Also, in 2022, HUD released a first-of-its-kind Initiative to Address Unsheltered and Rural Homelessness, which HUD plans to award in early in 2023.

HUD releases the Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress (AHAR) in two parts. Part one provides point-in-time estimates, offering a snapshot of homelessness on a single night. The one-night counts are conducted during the last 10 days of January each year, with extensions approved on a case-by-case basis. The PIT counts also provide an estimate of the number of people experiencing homelessness within particular homeless populations such as individuals with chronic patterns of homelessness and veterans experiencing homelessness.

HUD said the 2022 report provides comparisons with 2020 data because many communities were considerably impacted by COVID-19 during the 2021 PIT count and did not conduct an unsheltered PIT count. The 2020 PIT estimate included both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness. In addition, the report compares 2022 data to data from 2010, the first year that the federal government set a national goal to end homelessness. 

More information can be found via the 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report Part 1 by the numbers fact sheet and summary. 

More information about HUD and its programs is available at www.hud.gov and https://espanol.hud.gov.