HOMELESS CENSUS: Summary of Findings

Year	1993	1994	1996	1998	2001
Emergency Shelters	134	90	100	93	104
Transitional Shelters (Agencies providing shelter, a range of social services and case management)	63	99	112	202	207
Shelter Beds	5068	5534	5812	8124	9748
Referral Shelters (Agencies providing assistance to homeless persons, such as paying for a motel room, but not operating a shelter per se	142	184	171	165	179
Shelters for Disabled Homeless People	7	14	17	15	17
Disabled people in Shelters	576	1278	1391	4619	6594
Sheltered Homeless on Sampled Coldest Day	2/18 5665	1/18 6061	2/1 5981	3/12 11,648	1/2, 16301
Sheltered Homeless on Sampled Day, Early Summer	7/8 5347	6/27 7049	6/24 6061	6/29 11489	6/25 16549
Percent Urban/Rural	67/33	73/28	76/24	66/34	60/15/25* (*small urban)
Percent Families in Shelter	49.6	51	42	31	34
Percent Unaccompanied Youth in Shelters	2.6	2	1	2	1
Percent Unaccompanied Adults in Shelters	47.6	47	57	67	65
Homeless Persons Per Day (sheltered, unsheltered, doubled-up)	20468	22000	21355	32500	45700
Homeless Persons Per Year (sheltered, unsheltered, doubled-up)	54240	58600	56765	62650	87250

SUMMARY ANALYSIS OF FINDINGS

475 shelter providers were identified and surveyed for this 2001 census. The Department of Mental Health (DMH) provided information about 109 of the 475 shelters with which it contracts for alcohol and drug treatment. 98% of all shelter providers eventually responded to the survey.

The report shows 16,425 people being sheltered per day, an increase of 42% since the 1998 census. The sheltered homeless constitute a minority of homeless people. There are many more in the streets or temporarily crowded into the homes of families or friends. Based on national annualizing factors this translates into 45,700 persons per day and 87,250 persons per year overall. [Annualizing factors developed by Dr. Renee` Jahiel, New School of Social Work, New York, and information from Dr. Bruce Link & Associates, Columbia University, and Dr. Martha Burt, Urban Institute, Washington D.C.].

Five of six regions defined by the Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) experienced increases over 1998. Gateway experienced the largest increase, 69%; followed by Southeast, 47%; I-70 Corridor, 40%; Mid-America, 40%; The Lakes, 24%. The only region not experiencing an increase was the Northern Tier. [However, please note: Buchanan County experienced an increase of 61%, from 132 in 1998 to 213 in 2001.] [The six regions are: Northern Tier (26 counties including the cities of St. Joseph & Kirksville); Mid-America (5 metro counties including the City of Kansas City); The Lakes (26 counties which include the City of Springfield); Southeast (30 counties which include the cities of Cape Girardeau & Sikeston); Gateway (7 St. Louis metropolitan counties plus the City of St. Louis); and I-70 Corridor (20 counties including the cities of Columbia, Jefferson City, and Hannibal).]

Of the four types of shelter providers defined in the report, all reported significant increases in population served over 1998: emergency shelters increased by 425 persons per day or 26%; transitional shelters by 1900 persons per day or 46%; referral shelters by 475 persons per day per day or 42%; permanent shelters for homeless people with disabilities, 2050 persons per day or 46%. [NOTE: Emergency shelter providers are those which provide basic services (bed, food, clothing, necessities) for a short period of time; Transitional shelter providers include programming for longer periods of time to address the proximate causes of homelessness (e.g. economic distress, substance abuse, domestic violence, mental illness, disability, etc.); Referral shelter providers are those which provide shelter for short periods of time in hotels, motels, or private housing or provide short term rent or utility asstance to prevent homelessness of those with eviction notices or utility shutoffs that would result in homelessness. They are more typical of rural areas; Permanent shelter for homeless people with disabilities are for persons, such as those living with mental illness or AIDS who would otherwise be homeless.]

An important finding is that the number of persons in family groups increased from 3546 per day, in 1998 to 5668 in 2001, a 60% increase. Causes of homelessness, as usual, are many, but a clue to the increase in family groups was a significant change reported by agencies to a question about public assistance: "Are you providing shelter to any people who have been affected by changes in public welfare programs such as TANF, SSI, Food Stamps, Health Care or Housing Assistance?" In response to a similar question in 1998 34% of agencies reported that they had experienced an increase in demand because of welfare reform. However, in 2001 78% reported that changes in public assistance contributed to increased demand for homeless services.

Public assistance services that were most reported to have impacted demand are: TANF 70%; housing assistance 64%; Food Stamps, 62%; Health Care, 59%; SSI, 59%; SSDI, 42%; and other 20%. A clear recommendation implicit in this data is that state and federal governments must do a better job administering public assistance programs and change practices in relation to the economy so that they do not unintentionally contribute to the homelessness problem. An example of flawed administration is the state providing food stamps to only 57% of eligible people.

In addition to families, sub-groups of the homeless population are diverse. They include: immigrants, veterans, people with HIV/AIDS, youth, and domestic violence survivors. Estimates of those with various conditions include: 28% with severe mental illness, 34% addicted to drugs or alcohol, and 10% both mentally ill and addicted.

In addition to the objective data provided by shelters, 202 of them provided written comments analyzing homeless circumstances, citing problems, describing populations, and recommending policy changes. The comments of 20 agencies indicate that the numbers reported actually underestimate the numbers of homeless persons in their areas because on the days surveyed, January 2 and June 25, many had run out of funding for services and therefore could not serve homeless people.

Recommendations for policy change implicit in this report:

Increase funding for the Housing Trust Fund and Shelter Plus Care
Increase the supply of affordable housing
Establish an ongoing homeless data information system
Administer public assistance programs so that they do not cause homelessness and adjust to economy
Provide the education, training, and supportive services that would elevate an individual permanently from the cycle of homelessness, while addressing broader structural causes.
Homeless shelter providers need funding that is sufficient and predictable
The state's overall goal and commitment should be to end homeless in Missouri.

Updated: 7/31/2007