The federal government collects annual data for its “Point-in-Time” homeless count. For a single night in 2023, there were 653,000 homeless people in America, up by 12% from 2022. This was the highest number on record since this data count was started in 2007. Of that number, nearly half of the people were living in parks or on the street, instead of utilizing safe havens or shelters.
In Texas it is now a misdemeanor to “camp” on public property; in Tennessee, it is a felony.
On Monday, the United States Supreme Court will be hearing a case that could have positive or negative ramifications for how communities acknowledge the increasing issue of homelessness. The case coming before the court is City of Grants Pass v. Johnson. Grants Pass, Oregon is a small city, has one homeless shelter and started to implement their anti-camping law on those who were found to be sleeping (with a blanket or whatever else for protection from weather) in public. The decision before the Court is whether it’s unconstitutional to “penalize” those who are unhoused for doing something like sleeping, in public, especially when there is nowhere else for them to go.
Here in NH, most of the homeless population are adults with no children. The Point-in-Time count for 2022 was 1,605 individuals who were unhoused; 2023 saw an increase to 2,441 unhoused individuals.
These are a few reasons for homelessness:
Affordable Housing Shortage – affecting mostly those with a low income. Between 2019 – 2022, income needed for rent went up by 14.47%, while annual income needed in order to purchase a median-priced home went up by 53.87%. This was throughout all NH counties. The shortage is estimated to be more than 20,000 units. About 60,000 units will be needed by 2030 in order to keep pace with a growing population.
Domestic Violence – affects mostly women and children but all survivors can sometimes find themselves homeless and in need of affordable housing.
Racial Disparities – Black Americans are 2.7% of NH’s population, yet they account for 10.2% of the unhoused.
Subpopulations of Homeless – Chronic homelessness tend to be those who deal with health conditions or mental/physical disabilities. Family homelessness includes (at least) one adult and one minor child.
NH has 23 homeless shelters throughout the state.
We’ll see what happens with this Oregon case and whether the decision of the Supreme Court has a positive or negative ripple effect.