Based on estimates of the depth likely to be reached by the current recession, 1.5 million additional Americans are likely to experience homelessness over the next two years (see appendix on methodology below), over and above the number who usually become homeless. This means more trauma for children and adults, more dislocation from schools and communities, and more expenses for local shelter systems. It meansm more people disconnected from the mainstream of America.

This is not an inevitable result, however. In recent years, know-how about addressing homelessness has increased rapidly, as communities have shifted from merely managing the problem, to focused efforts to reduce and even end homelessness. A small number of leading communities have substantially reduced the number of homeless people, using proven interventions that prevent and quickly end homelessness. Today, the National Alliance to End Homelessness is releasing Homelessness Counts: Changes in Homelessness from 2005 to 2007, showing that during favorable economic circumstances, these efforts reduced homelessness nationwide.

So far, the new approach to homelessness has not been brought to the scale necessary to deal with the current recession. If serious measures are taken to bring it to scale, the opportunity remains to prevent suffering and keep hundreds of thousands of families from succumbing.

In Brief:

• 1.5 million additional Americans could become homeless over the next two years without effective intervention
• Many communities have already seen significant increases in their local homeless population
• Unemployment, poverty and deep poverty rates could reach depths not seen in decades, putting unbearable pressure on local homeless assistance programs
• The National Alliance to End Homelessness calls for $2 billion for homeless prevention and rapid rehousing; 400,000 additional Seciton 8 vouchers; and a substantial investment in the National Housing Trust Fund to ameliorate the inevitable effects of the recession and prevent 1.5 million people from becoming homeless in the next two years.

Follow the link below to access the full PDF. 

View Homelessness Counts, a detailed and informative report on the changes in homelessness between 2005 and 2007, issued today by the National Alliance to End Homelessness.