History of Homelessness
Currently and formerly homeless clients were asked about their experiences with homelessness, including how many times they had been homeless, the length of their current homeless episode (if homeless now), and the length of the most recent completed episode of homelessness (for formerly homeless clients and currently homeless clients who have been homeless more than once). Results are shown in table 3.9.
Currently homeless clients are more likely than those who are formerly homeless to have had only one homeless episode (49 versus 40 percent). Similar proportions of currently and formerly homeless clients (22 and 21 percent) have been homeless four or more times (figure 3.10).
Twenty-eight percent of currently homeless clients have been homeless during their present spell for three months or less, while 30 percent have been homeless for two years or more. There are no differences between formerly homeless clients and those among the currently homeless who have had more than one spell regarding the length of their most recent completed spell. The most frequently mentioned spell length was between one and three months (33 and 30 percent, respectively). The next most frequently mentioned category was episodes of 7 to 12 months, indicated by 21 and 20 percent. Relatively few clients reported completing episodes of two years or more (15 and 12 percent).
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