Studying National Trends in Homelessness
Highlights
- Developing reliable statistics on homelessness in the U.S. is difficult.
- Abt collected data and refined the Annual Homeless Assessment Report.
- We developed national data and technical standards for future use.
Developing reliable statistics on the extent of homelessness in the U.S. is a hard task. The homeless move locations. Their status can change rapidly. And the mental state of some makes them reluctant to cooperate with surveys.
Since 2002, Abt has worked with the Department of Housing and Urban Development to collect data and refine the processes for the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR). The AHAR uses data from Community Point-in-Time (PIT) counts of homeless people and from local Homeless Management Information Systems (HMIS). The PIT data estimate people who experience homelessness one night in January. The HMIS data provide information about people who are in a homeless shelter at some time during a year.
Under the initial contract, Abt developed national data and technical standards for local HMIS and identified a nationally representative sample of communities to participate. Under later contracts, Abt:
- Updated the national data and technical standards for HMIS.
- Collected and analyzed data from more than 300 communities nationwide.
- Reported on the first year of the Homelessness Prevention and Rapid Re-Housing Program.
- Released two separate AHAR volumes each year, providing analyses of trend information at the national, state, and local levels.
Learn more:
-
Homelessness Up Across All Groups, Underscoring Lack of Affordable Housing and Loss of COVID-Era Protections - AHAR Pt 1 2023
- Who’s Experiencing Homelessness? The List Is Growing. - AHAR Pt 2 2021
- HUD Annual Report to Congress: Slight Increase in Homelessness in 2022 Abt’s Analysis Finds Overrepresentation by Race Persists - AHAR Pt 1 2022
- HUD Report to Congress Finds Fewer Families in Shelters, Suggesting Stronger Social Safety Net Is Working - AHAR 2021
- HUD Report to Congress: Homelessness Increased for Fourth Year In a Row; Racial Inequities Persist - AHAR 2020
- HUD Annual Report: Decrease in Homeless Families and Veterans Can't Halt Increase in Total Year-Over-Year Homelessness - AHAR 2019
- New Annual Report From HUD Provides Insight Into Homelessness in U.S. - AHAR 2018