The Nature of Homelessness - Homeless Services

A substantial number of organizations provide services to homeless people across the country. Faith-based organizations have been providing assistance to the needy throughout history, including programs for the homeless. Many secular nonprofits (organizations with no religious affiliation) also provide such assistance. Since 1987, with the passage of the McKinney Act, federal funding targeted for homelessness has been available. It reached a peak of $1.5 billion in 1995, up TABLE 1.7
Homeless assistance programs by sponsorship, type, and urban or rural status, 1996
SOURCE: Laudan Y. Aron and Patrick T. Sharkey, "Table 1a. NSHAPC Programs by urban or rural status, in The 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients: A Comparison of Faith-Based and Secular Non-Profit Programs, The Urban Institute and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 2002, http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/homelessness/NSHAPC02/report.htm (accessed February 9, 2005)

		Percentage by sponsor type
Areas and program types	Total number of programs	Faith-based non-profit	Secular non-profit	Government	For-profit
All program types	39,664	31.8	47.3	13.4	0.6
Central cities
All	19,388	36.8	45.9	9.9	0.7
Housing	7,894	28.7	53.8	9.6	0.8
Food	6,018	63.4	28.3	2.6	0.2
Health	1,379	7.5	56.8	29.1	0.7
Other	4,097	23.5	53.0	14.6	1.2
Suburbs
All	7,694	35.1	48.0	7.4	1.1
Housing	3,230	24.2	53.6	8.7	1.8
Food	3,020	53.0	40.0	2.6	0.4
Health	251	2.9	51.0	32.0	2.6
Other	1,192	26.2	52.9	11.0	0.4
Rural areas
All	12,583	21.9	48.9	22.6	0.2
Housing	4,754	15.5	56.6	18.6	NA
Food	3,965	37.6	49.1	10.3	0.7
Health	1,110	1.8	11.1	68.4	NA
Other	2,754	18.3	50.7	28.6	NA
NA = Not available.
Rows may not added to 100 percent because programs that did not identify their source of sponsorship in the survey are not listed.

from $350 million in 1987. In January 2005 the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced that President George W. Bush's proposed Fiscal Year 2006 budget contained a record level of funding for homeless programs, $1.4 billion, an increase of 8.5% over the previous year (News Release, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD No. 05-007, January 25, 2005).

The most recent comprehensive study of assistance programs dates to 1996. In that year, according to the Urban Institute, about half of all assistance programs (19,388) were located in central cities, about one-fifth (7,694) in suburban fringe communities, the rest in rural areas. (See Table 1.7.) All told, 39,664 programs operated nationwide, with the largest number in the South and Midwest and the lowest in the Northeast. (See Table 1.8.) Some of these programs were aimed directly at homeless people, such as homeless shelters. Others were programs open to a wider group of needy people but intended also to serve the homeless (for example, free health clinics for the poor).

Homeless services provide assistance in three major areas: housing, food, and health. In 1996, 40% of the programs offered housing assistance through TABLE 1.8
Homeless assistance programs by sponsorship, type, and region, 1996
SOURCE: Laudan Y. Aron and Patrick T. Sharkey, "Table 1a. NSHAPC Programs by Region of Country, in The 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients: A Comparison of Faith-Based and Secular Non-Profit Programs, The Urban Institute and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 2002, http://aspe.hhs.gov/hsp/homelessness/NSHAPC02/report.htm (accessed February 8, 2005)

		Percentage by sponsor type
Regions and program types	Number of programs	Faith-based non-profit	Secular non-profit	Government	For-profit
All programs	39,664	31.8	47.3	13.4	0.6
Northeast
All programs	7,097	28.6	53.6	10.1	0.6
Housing	2,870	16.4	61.3	12.9	0.6
Food	2,401	53.1	37.2	3.6	0.5
Health	306	6.6	69.1	14.1	0.7
Other	1,521	17.4	62.1	14.5	0.7
South
All programs	11,101	39.0	40.7	13.6	0.5
Housing	4,309	30.0	50.3	10.3	1.1
Food	4,113	58.1	32.2	6.1	NA
Health	863	4.7	26.9	57.0	0.1
Other	1,817	33.5	43.5	17.9	0.1
Midwest
All programs	11,853	31.6	43.7	16.2	0.5
Housing	4,678	24.5	47.6	16.9	0.4
Food	3,945	54.6	34.3	6.7	0.8
Health	736	2.8	39.7	35.5	NA
Other	2,494	16.8	52.6	24.0	0.4
West
All programs	9,333	25.8	54.6	12.4	1.0
Housing	3,892	21.2	62.9	8.0	1.0
Food	2,478	42.4	51.0	1.7	0.2
Health	816	6.0	34.7	53.8	1.7
Other	2,147	22.3	51.3	17.2	1.6
NA = Not available.
Rows may not added to 100 percent because programs that did not identify their source of sponsorship in the survey are not listed.

shelters, permanent housing, or housing vouchers. Provision of food through such outlets as soup kitchens, food pantries, and mobile food distribution accounted for 33% of services. Seven percent of the assistance programs were related to health care, which included not only physical and mental health care but also assistance to people with drug and alcohol addictions as well as care for sufferers of human immunodeficiency virus / acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS). Nationwide there were 15,878 housing programs, 13,003 food programs, and 2,739 health programs. An additional 8,043 programs provided assistance on an outreach basis, through drop-in centers and programs offering financial help for housing.

The Urban Institute also studied the utilization rates of homeless services. A section of its landmark December 1999 study, Homelessness: Programs and the People They Serve, illustrates the scope of food programs; 26% of the surveyed providers expected between 101 and 299 requests daily, and 11% expected more than 300 contacts a day. For walk-in services and health programs, about half this percentage expected the same volume of clients; 5% of walk-in programs and 4% of health programs expected more than 300 people a day. Housing programs served the lowest number of people per day: on average, only 2% of the programs expected 300 contacts a day. Food, health, and walk-in services (such as job counseling) are, by nature, geared toward multiple returns and have high traffic. Housing programs, by contrast, provide single-client service delivery over a longer period of time. Housing programs are also geared specifically toward helping the homeless while many food, health, and walk-in programs are open to a wider group of people.

Secular nonprofit organizations provided nearly half (47.3%) of all homeless services in 1996. (See Figure 1.2.) Secular organizations also ran the majority of housing programs (54.6%) and "other" services (52.2%), including outreach, drop-in centers, and financial/housing assistance. Faith-based organizations were most active in providing food services (53.1% of all such programs), including food pantries, soup kitchens, and mobile food distribution. Government agencies led in the provision of health services (45.3% of all such services).

Special Population Services

Many homeless assistance programs are open to anyone who wants to use them, but other programs are designed to serve only specific groups of people. The population served may be defined in several different ways: men by themselves, women by themselves, households with children, youth by themselves, battered women, or veterans, for example. The Urban Institute study revealed that 42.1% of all homeless service programs named a specific population group as a focus. After meeting the basic needs of food, shelter, and health care, these homeless programs provided for other special needs. When an emergency shelter had a specific focus, it was FIGURE 1.2
Homeless programs by type and operating entity, 1996
[Percent of programs]
SOURCE: Adapted from Laudan Y. Aron and Patrick T. Sharkey, "Table 1. NSHAPC Programs by Type of Agency Operating Programs," in The 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients: A Comparison of Faith-Based and Secular Non-Profit Programs, The Urban Institute and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 2002, http://aspe.hhs.gov/search/hsp/homelessness/NSHAPC02/report.htm (accessed February 4, 2005) most likely to offer shelter to victims of domestic violence (30.3% of emergency shelters), followed by a focus on chemical dependency (8.6%), on youth (8.3%), or families (5.6%). (See Table 1.9.) The transitional shelters that report specialized assistance programs divide their focus between domestic violence (14%) and chemical dependence (14.4%). Permanent housing programs that target specific population groups focus heavily on those in need of mental health services (15.7% of programs).

TABLE 1.9
Homeless assistance programs by type, sponsorship, and focus, 1996
SOURCE: Adapted from Laudan Y. Aron and Patrick T. Sharkey, "Table 6. What Special Focus Do NSHAPC Programs Have?" in The 1996 National Survey of Homeless Assistance Providers and Clients: A Comparison of Faith-Based and Secular Non-Profit Programs, The Urban Institute and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, March 2002, http://aspe.hhs.gov/search/hsp/homelessness/NSHAPC02/report.htm (accessed February 4, 2005)

	Programs by all sponsors		Faith-based non-profit		Secular non-profit		Government
Program type and focus	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent	Number	Percent
Emergency shelter with	5,320	100%	1,520	100%	3,480	100%	320	100%
No specialization		40.6		63.2		30.4		44.6
Mental health (MH) focus		3.7		2.5		4.1		5.2
Chemical dependency (CD) focus		8.6		15.5		5.3		12.6
MH/CD focus		1.4		2.7		0.9		1.0
HIV/AIDS focus		1.4		1.8		1.3		0.3
Domestic violence focus		30.3		5.2		42.1		20.1
Youth focus		8.3		1.7		11.3		6.8
Family focus		5.6		7.4		4.5		9.3
Transitional shelter with	4,149	100%	1,181	100%	2,535	100%	433	100%
No specialization		43.4		54.8		35.6		57.6
Mental health focus		8.3		3.5		9.6		14.2
Chemical dependency focus		14.4		16.6		15.2		4.2
MH/CD focus		5.2		2.9		6.3		5.2
HIV/AIDS focus		3.1		1.2		4.2		1.7
Domestic violence focus		14.0		7.7		18.2		6.6
Youth focus		4.4		5.6		4.6		0.2
Family focus		7.1		7.6		6.3		10.2
Permanent housing with	1,719	100%	205	100%	980	100%	534	100%
No specialization		63.6		61.6		52.8		84.2
Mental health focus		15.7		8.8		22.1		6.6
Chemical dependency focus		5.2		11.0		5.2		2.9
MH/CD focus		5.8		5.6		7.8		2.2
HIV/AIDS focus		9.8		13.0		12.1		4.2
Soup kitchen with	3,284	100%	2,131	100%	1,057	100%		NA
No specialization		83.2		84.9		79.4		NA
Mental health focus		6.1		4.4		9.8		NA
Chemical dependency focus		6.7		7.6		5.2		NA
Family focus		2.4		2.9		1.6		NA
HIV/AIDS focus		1.5		0.2		4.0		NA
NA = Not available