Number Of Homeless Declines 12%, HUD Says
White House Trumpets Findings, Advocates Cautious
POSTED: 2:33 pm EDT July 29, 2008
UPDATED: 7:24 pm EDT July 29, 2008
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WASHINGTON -- The government said the number of homeless in the United States decreased about 12 percent from 2005 to 2007.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development said there's an even larger decline in the number of people who are chronically homeless.Those are defined as disabled people who have been living on the streets for more than a year or have been homeless at least four times in the past three years. HUD credits the decline to programs that offer permanent housing and support services for the disabled homeless.The White House welcomed the report, and used its results to highlight a requested $1.6 billion for HUD's homeless programs for the FY 2009 budget -- a 60 percent increase in funding over 2001 levels.Some homeless advocates say HUD's emphasis on the decline in chronic homelessness paints too rosy a picture. The report doesn't take into account the effects of the foreclosure crisis and recently slowing economy, which could increase the number of homeless families.
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