General Information on Homelessness

A variety of events and circumstances that occur in an individuals life can culminate to the point of becoming homeless. Included below are some specific populations which may be disproportionately affected:
- Between 31-46% of children aging out the foster care system will experience homelessness by the age of 26.
- 20% of children aging out of the foster care system become instantly homeless.
- Approximately 11% of the homeless population consists of veterans.  The homeless veteran population has decreased by 70% since 2005.
- Only 9% of homeless veterans are female. 45% are of African American or Hispanic decent.
- 51% of homeless veterans have disabilities, and 50% have serious mental illness. 70% of homeless veterans have substance abuse difficulties.
- Formerly incarcerated people are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general public.
- Approximately 50,000 people a year become homeless immediately following release from incarceration.
- Individuals who are homeless often become incarcerated due to issues revolving around living on the streets.  This revolving door furthers homelessness, as those who have been incarcerated more than once are 13 times more likely to experience homelessness than the general public.
- 20-25% of the homeless population experience some form of severe mental illness (only 6% of the general public experience severe mental illness).
- Mental illness was the third largest reason given for homelessness for individuals (mentioned by 48% of cities), and for families (mentioned by 12% of cities as one of the leading three causes).