Homeless Clients¹

• Among homeless households (that is, the one or more people represented by each NSHAPC client), 15 percent are family households (that is, they include the client and one or more of the client's minor children). If one includes all minor children living with homeless clients, then 34 percent of homeless people found at homeless assistance programs are members of homeless families and 66 percent are not.

• Homeless clients are predominantly male (68 percent) and nonwhite (53 percent). Large proportions are also never married (48 percent) and poorly educated (38 percent have less than a high school diploma). These characteristics contrast sharply with those of the U.S. population as a whole (48 percent male, 14 percent nonwhite, 23 percent never married, and 18 percent with less than a high school education).

• Sixty percent of homeless women have minor children, as do 41 percent of homeless men. Among these minor children, only 28 percent live with their homeless parent and 72 percent do not. Twenty percent of the children living with a homeless parent are infants and toddlers (ages 0 to 2), 22 percent are preschoolers (ages 3 to 5), another 33 percent are of elementary school age (6 to 11), and 20 percent are adolescents (ages 12 to 17). Age was not given for 5 percent.

• Finding a job is the top need reported by homeless clients (42 percent).

• Thirty percent of homeless clients cited insufficient income and another 24 percent cited lack of employment as the single most important thing preventing them from leaving homelessness.

• Homeless clients often have a hard time getting enough food. Fifty-eight percent report at least one problem with getting enough food to eat during the 30 days before being interviewed.

• Fifty-five percent of homeless clients have no health insurance, and 24 percent say they needed medical attention in the past year but were not able to get it.

• Alcohol problems during the past month are reported by 38 percent of homeless clients, drug problems by 26 percent, and mental health problems by 39 percent. Sixty-six percent reported problems with one or more of these issues during the month before they were interviewed.

• Being homeless leaves one's person and possessions vulnerable to attack. Thirty-eight percent of homeless clients report having money or things taken directly from them while homeless, and 41 percent report thefts of their possessions while they were not present. In addition, 22 percent have been physically assaulted and 7 percent sexually assaulted while homeless.

• Over one-quarter (27 percent) of homeless clients lived in foster care, a group home, or other institutional settings for part of their childhood. Twenty-five percent report childhood physical or sexual abuse. In addition, many had childhood experiences of homelessness (21 percent), running away from home (33 percent), or being forced to leave home (22 percent).

• The incomes of homeless clients are extremely low. Mean income during the 30 days before being interviewed was $367. Mean income for clients living with their children was higher ($475), but was still only 46 percent of the 1996 federal poverty level of $1,023/month for a family of three. Single homeless clients report less income, averaging $348 during the past month, or just 51 percent of the 1996 federal poverty level of $680/month for one person. By comparison, the median monthly income for all American households was $2,840 in 1995, indicating the extreme poverty of homeless clients whether they be families or singles.

• Forty-four percent of homeless clients worked for pay during the last 30 days, but less than half of these workers had a regular job (one lasting or expected to last three months or more).

• The means-tested government benefits with the highest rates of participation among homeless clients were food stamps (37 percent) and Medicaid (30 percent). Participation in cash assistance included Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) (52 percent among homeless families), General Assistance (GA) (9 percent), and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) (11 percent). Household status did not affect receipt of the latter two benefits, but homeless families were much more likely than other homeless clients to receive food stamps and Medicaid. All 1996 rates of participation in government benefit programs are significant improvements over participation rates for homeless clients in 1987.

• Almost half (49 percent) of homeless clients have been homeless only once, but 22 percent have been homeless four or more times. Current spells of homelessness in this point-in-time study are about equally likely to be short (28 percent were three months or less) and long (30 percent were two years or more). Homeless families are more likely than single homeless clients to be in a first episode that has lasted less than six months (34 versus 15 percent).

• About one-third (32 percent) of homeless clients spent time as "street homeless" during the week before being interviewed.

• Homeless clients changed their location frequently in the week before being interviewed, revealing a great deal of overlap among clients sleeping in places not meant for habitation, shelters, and temporary accommodations. Seventy-three percent used shelters, of whom slightly more than half also had slept in other arrangements and/or on the streets. Thirty-two percent slept on the streets, of whom 4 out of 5 also slept in shelters and/or other arrangements. Fifty-five percent had slept in other arrangements, of whom 9 out of 10 had also slept in shelters and/or on the streets.

• The majority of homeless clients (71 percent) are in central cities, 21 percent in the suburbs and urban fringe areas, and 9 percent in rural areas. This contrasts with the distribution of the U.S. population in poverty of 43, 34, and 23 percent, respectively.

• Comparing findings from the Urban Institute's 1987 study of central city homeless shelter and soup kitchen users with equivalent 1996 NSHAPC clients reveals both continuity and change during this nine-year period. There is no change in the proportion of homeless clients in the two time periods who are male, Hispanic, in families, or homeless for two years or more, or who have experienced inpatient treatment for alcohol and/or drug and mental health problems. The biggest changes are evident in increases from 1987 to 1996 in the proportion of clients whose current homelessness has lasted three months or less, who receive AFDC² (family households only), SSI, and food stamps; an increase in mean monthly income per person after adjusting for inflation; and decreases in the proportion with less than a high school education, who have never married, and who have problems getting enough to eat.

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