Homeless in America: How bad is the crisis right now?

Homelessness in America reached an all-time high in 2023, making many across the country fear what 2024 will bring and what is being done to address the country’s growing homeless crisis.

According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), an estimated 653,104 people experienced homelessness on a single night in 2023, a 12% jump from 2022, making it the highest number of homeless people since the country began using the yearly point-in-time survey in 2007.

One factor for the increase in homelessness was the end of pandemic programs such as the eviction moratorium as well as jumps in rental costs, the report outlined.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, data shows the U.S. had been making steady progress in reducing the homeless population as the government focused on increasing investments to get veterans into housing. The number of homeless people dropped from about 637,000 in 2010 to about 554,000 in 2017.

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The number of people who became homeless between the federal fiscal years of 2021 to 2022 jumped 25%, HUD noted in the report. The 2022 fiscal year ended in September 2022. 

Veteran homelessness increased by 7.4% last year for the largest surge in 12 years, as revealed by HUD’s annual report.

On a single night in Jan. 2023, there were 35,574 homeless veterans in the U.S., the report also uncovered. Unsheltered veterans represented nearly 80% of the overall increase in homelessness seen in 2023.

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HUD reported that compared to 2022, homelessness overall rose by 12%, or roughly 70,650 people. According to the report: 

• Sheltered homelessness rose by 13.7%
• Unsheltered homelessness rose by 9.7%.
• Homelessness among individuals rose by 10.8%.
• Homelessness among people in families with children rose by 15.5%.
• Homelessness among unaccompanied youth rose by 15.3%.
• Homelessness among veterans rose by 7.4%.
• Chronic homelessness among individuals rose by 12%

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Congress also adopted an appropriations amount for homeless assistance in last year’s fiscal year 2023 funding bill of $3.633 billion. The National Alliance to End Homelessness is advocating for an increase of $200 million for FY 2024, which is $84 million more than the Biden administration’s proposal.

In response to the growing need for shelter, communities also expanded the number of shelters, transitional housing and Safe Haven beds. The number of shelter and temporary housing beds increased by 7% in 2023 compared with 2022.

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Data shows California leads the country with the most cities experiencing homelessness, with Los Angeles leading at just over 71,000 without a place to call home, followed by San Diego with over 10,000, San Jose, Oakland and Sacramento at nearly 10,000, and San Francisco rounding out the top ten with over 7,500. 

New York City, the nation’s most populated city, leads as the city with the largest population of homeless people at over 88,000. New York’s homelessness went up more than three times the national rate, according to HUD’s report.

1. New York City: 88,025
2. Los Angeles: 71,320
3. Seattle: 14,149
4. San Diego: 10,264
5. Denver: 10,054
6. San Jose, Calif.: 9,903
7. Oakland: 9,759
8. Phoenix: 9,642
9. Sacramento, Calif.: 9,281
10. San Francisco: 7,582

The Supreme Court is now set to decide on a case that could help clean up cities experiencing the brunt of the crisis.

On Jan. 12, the high court agreed to hear the case, Grants Pass v. Johnson, involving whether cities could ban homeless people from sleeping in public areas. 

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The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals previously ruled against anti-camping ordinances in Grants Pass, Oregon, saying it was unconstitutional because it violates the Eighth Amendment of no “cruel and unusual punishment.”

However, Grants Pass argued that allowing homeless people to stay in encampments can lead to increased crime, fires, “the reemergence of medieval diseases” and harm to the environment, according to The Hill. 

Jason Rantz, host of the “Jason Rantz Show” on KTTH Radio Seattle/Tacoma and author of “What’s Killing America,” told Fox News Digital that the 9th Circuit Court of Appeal’s ruling has been incredibly detrimental to cities when dealing with the homelessness crisis.

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“The fact is, if we don’t use a carrot and stick approach, nothing will get better. Homeless people know that they can’t easily be swept, so they decline offers of shelter. When we make it easy to say no to shelter, or any other resources, guess what happens? They say no. Municipalities must be able to create policy that will work in their communities, without being hamstrung by some liberal justices on the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals,” Rantz said.

Rantz added that the left is dodging the truth when it claims that homelessness is due to rent being too high. Rather, he said, the influx of drugs is to blame. 

“We have a porous border with drugs flooding the streets of the cities, counties, and states that have taken a permissive approach to drug use. At the same time, guess what’s gone up? Homelessness, and the crimes that are associated with it. If you want to tackle the homelessness crisis in a meaningful way, you will reject harm reduction policies, which essentially enable drug use, stop pretending that this is a housing issue, and fund treatment on demand,” Rantz said. 

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If passed, the ruling would apply to nine western states, including Alaska, Arizona, California, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon and Washington.

In 2018, a 9th Circuit ruling in a Boise, Idaho, case also found that penalizing the homeless for sleeping on the street when there is no shelter available violates the 8th Amendment. 

The city of San Francisco received criticism in November after the city removed the homeless for beautification before President Biden’s summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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“I know folks are saying, ‘Oh they’re just cleaning up this place because all those fancy leaders are coming to town.’ That’s true, because it’s true — but it’s also true for months and months and months before APEC [Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit], we’ve been having conversations,” California Gov. Gavin Newsom said.

Newsom’s 10-year plan to end San Francisco homelessness marked its 20-year anniversary in December to failed efforts, as San Francisco, along with the rest of California, is far from solving the problem.

“Twenty years ago, then-Mayor Newsom laid out his 10-year plan to end homelessness in San Francisco,” California GOP chairwoman Jessica Millan Patterson told Fox News Digital. “Not only does the problem remain unsolved today, but in the time since, he has taken his failures statewide, where communities across California are grappling with the devastating homeless crisis.”

Newsom’s office did not respond to Fox News Digital.

The increase in the number of people without a place to live also comes as housing prices are soaring and costs for essentials like food and transportation are rising. 

According to a New York Times estimate, the federal government sent $817 billion in stimulus payments to Americans, a pandemic-era program that ended in March 2021. 

Fox News’ Andrew Mark Miller, Brie Stimson, Houston Keene and Angelica Stabile contributed to this report.