The Need

Who is homeless in Boston?

Every year the City of Boston conducts a census of all of the homeless people in Boston, counting those living in shelters and on the streets that night. The statistics below are all findings from the 2008 Homeless Census.

• On December 15, 2008 there were 7, 681 homeless people in Boston – 219 of whom were living on the streets.
• The number of homeless individuals increased by 3% between 2007 and 2008, the first increase after three years of decline.
• The ten-year steady increase in family homelessness continued in 2008, with the number of homeless households increased by 22% from 2007, the highest level in the 29 years the Homeless Census has been conducted.
• There was a 19% increase in people living on the streets in 2008 over the 2007 count. Although this is a significant increase, it is still a 17% decline compared to 2006 and was much lower than expected given the relatively warm weather during the week of the 2008 Census.
• Over the last decade, the percentage of people living on the streets who are female has increased steadily from 11% in 1998 to 21% in 2008.
• The six-year trend of a slight decline in the number of adults in Boston shelters continued in 2008.
• The 2008 Census revealed a wide range of income among adults living in shelters, but did not collect data on the income of people living on the streets. Over one-third of the respondents in shelters reported no monthly income, with the next largest group reporting an income from $501-750 per month, an amount that correlates to the average monthly payments of Social Security Income (SSI) or Social Security Disability Income (SSDI).
• The predominate majority of people stay in shelters for less than one year, although a core group are chronically homeless and remain in shelters for more than 10 years.
• The 2008 Census reiterated that the Boston shelter system serves as a safety net when state systems of care fail to meet the needs of the individual. At one major shelter in Boston, nearly half of the guests had been in another governmental system of care, such as a hospital or prison, within one week of their entry into the shelter. This illustrates the serious problem with the lack of advanced and triage planning for housing after discharge from state systems of care.

Why are people homeless?

There are many contributing factors to why people are homeless in Boston and throughout the US. The predominate factors found in the 2008 Hunger and Homelessness Survey from the US Office of Mayors were:

• Lack of affordable housing
• Low paying jobs
• Unemployment
• Substance abuse and the lack of needed services
• Mental illness and the lack of needed services
• Domestic violence
• Poverty

The current economic recession has certainly not helped matters. In 2008, the City of Boston reported that the 22% increase in family homelessness from the previous year was partially due to evictions from landlords whose rental properties were foreclosed2. When a rental property is foreclosed, renters are typically evicted with little warning and unable to recover their security deposit, leaving them more economically vulnerable than home owners.

What is being done to change this?

There is no simple solution to end homelessness. A variety of different shelters and soup kitchens, such as the Friday Night Supper Program, actively serve Boston’s homeless population every day. These and other organizations strive to meet the day-to-day food and shelter needs of the homeless while also providing treatment for mental illness and substance abuse, health care, mail and voicemail boxes, education, occupational training, employment assistance, clothing, and legal services. These organizations aim to help each individual deal with the underlying causes of his or her homelessness, find a way to support himself, and secure permanent housing.

Homelessness prevention initiatives provide rental assistance and support services so that families can remain in their homes and avoid homelessness altogether. In March 2009, Mayor Menino released Leading the Way III, the City of Boston’s newest plan to increase affordable housing, address the foreclosure crisis, preserve and stabilize Boston’s rental housing, and reduce the prevalence of homelessness. This plan continues the City of Boston’s ongoing efforts to meet Boston’s evolving housing needs.

Some of the homeless service organizations in Boston have begun applying the Housing First Initiative, a relatively new methodology targeting the chronically homeless with the initial goal of placing them into their own apartments. After permanent housing is secured, each individual is provided with case management services to help ease the transition and address underlying problems such as mental illness or substance abuse. This methodology bypasses the traditional levels of housing which move people from the street to a shelter to transitional housing to their own apartment. This initiative is supported by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and is used in cities throughout the US with promising results thus far.

Although homelessness is a very complex issue, a lot of hard work is going on throughout Boston to eliminate and prevent the underlying causes while attempting to find permanent and affordable housing solutions for those who are homeless.

Sources:

1. Office of the Mayor, Emergency Shelter Commission. Homelessness in the City of Boston: Winter 2008-2009 Annual Census Report. December 15, 2008.
   http://www.cityofboston.gov/shelter/census/
2. United States Office of Mayors. Hunger and Homelessness Survey: A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America’s Cities. December 2008.
   http://usmayors.org/pressreleases/documents/hungerhomelessnessreport_121208.pdf
3. City of Boston Mayor’s Office. Leading the Way III: A Report on Boston’s Housing Strategy for 2009-2011, Pan Summary. March 2009.
   Leading The Way III Summary Plan