WASHINGTON – Homelessness in the U.S. rose for the fourth-straight year, with about 580,000 people living on the streets or in temporary shelter at the start of 2020, according to an annual nationwide survey that was completed before the pandemic.
But the report, released Thursday, almost certainly underestimates the spread, depth and urgency of the crisis, and not by a little, federal officials warned.
The report showed a 2.2% increase in homelessness from the previous year, but that does not reflect the displacement of people who lost work as a result of the pandemic.
"I can't give you numbers on how much homelessness has increased during the pandemic, but we know it has increased," Marcia Fudge, who was confirmed this month as President Joe Biden's secretary of Housing and Urban Development, said during a briefing at the White House.
She called the situation "devastating," adding that the country had a "moral responsibility" to address both long-term homelessness and pandemic hardships.
HUD officials say the effect on homelessness might not be known for years. Nationwide moratoriums on evictions, which have been in place since spring and are set to expire this year, have slowed the pace of displacement, although a Government Accountability Office report released this past week showed the programs were not universally effective.
Fudge set an ambitious goal during her briefing: to reduce the number of homeless people by 130,000 using additional resources provided to HUD under Biden's $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief bill.
New York Times
