The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has revealed that homelessness in the United States is on the rise due to rising housing costs, poverty and the expiration of pandemic-related relief measures.
According to the HUD annual study, homelessness has been on an upward trajectory for six consecutive years, with significant growth observed since 2019. However, the 2023 numbers (653,104 people) are particularly alarming as they exceeded the 2007 to 2022 average by 10 percent. The HUD report reveals that 60 percent of these individuals were accommodated in shelters, safe haven programs or transitional housing, while the remaining 40 percent lived in unsheltered conditions.
This trend has been evident among specific demographics. For instance, Black Americans comprised 37 percent of all homeless individuals, despite being only 13 percent of the U.S. population. Similarly, Hispanic and Latino individuals saw a 28 percent increase in homelessness, accounting for more than half of the rise from 2022 to 2023. Among racial groups, Asians and Asian Americans experienced a staggering 40 percent overall rise, with even more severe increases among those unsheltered.
Moreover, families with children and veterans were among the hardest hit, with family homelessness increasing by 16 percent and veteran homelessness reaching over 35,500. Black Americans also represented half of all homeless families in this demographic. (Related: America's HOMELESS population surges to record-high 653,000 as IMMIGRATION CRISIS worsens under Biden.)
Unaccompanied youth also joined the trend, representing 22 percent of all homeless individuals under age 25, with California reporting the largest number at 10,173. New York (13 percent of the national total), Washington (six percent), Oregon (four percent), Texas (four percent) and Florida (four percent) also joined California in this trend.
Chronic homelessness, characterized by prolonged or repeated episodes of homelessness, affects one-third of the total homeless population. This category also saw record numbers in 2023, with nearly 93,000 individuals living in unsheltered conditions.
The rise has been attributed to various factors, including the end of the Wuhan coronavirus (COVID-19) shelter restrictions, which had limited capacity during the pandemic and the increased financial strain on households nationwide. These measures had previously helped many Americans stay in stable housing. In other words, their expiration, alongside the phase-out of Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding for shelter beds, left people unable to afford housing.
SCOTUS ruling allowing fines and jail sentences for unsheltered people contributed to the trend
These results reveal the serious implications of a recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling from June, which allows municipalities to impose fines and jail sentences on individuals living in unsheltered conditions. The 6-3 decision in Grants Pass v. Johnson upheld an Oregon town's ban on sleeping or camping in public spaces, even with insufficient shelter space.
Supporters of the ruling argue that prohibiting camping or sleeping in public areas protects public health and safety.
"Under the city's laws, it makes no difference whether the charged defendant is homeless, a backpacker on vacation passing through town, or a student who abandons his dorm room to camp out in protest on the lawn of a municipal building," Justice Neil Gorsuch wrote for the majority.
Opponents, however, see the ruling as a troubling step toward criminalizing the very condition of being homeless.
"For some people, sleeping outside is their only option. The City of Grants Pass jails and fines those people for sleeping anywhere in public at any time, including in their cars, if they use as little as a blanket to keep warm or a rolled-up shirt as a pillow," Justice Sonia Sotomayor wrote in dissent.
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Watch this episode of the "Health Ranger Report" where Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, correctly predicts how giant homeless encampments are set to explode across the United States.
This video is from the Health Ranger Report channel on Brighteon.com.
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