HUD Says Michigan Homelessness Spikes, But Even That Estimate May be Low

Michigan had one of the highest one-year increases in homelessness in the nation from 2013-2014, according to a new report released Thursday by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Homelessness increased 6.1 percent, with an additional 700 people homeless during the count, which took place on a single night in January 2014. The actual count of homeless Michigan residents is 12,227, compared with 11,527 in the January 2013 count.

The states of New York, Massachusetts, Nevada and the District of Columbia also saw large on-year increases in the number of people living unsheltered.

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Nationally, homelessness declined 2.3 percent over the period, according to the report. Thirty-six states reported one-year decreases.

Michigan Coalition Against Homelessness executive director Eric Hufnagel told The Detroit News the HUD report drastically underestimates the problem of homelessness in the state. The actual number of people living unsheltered may be as high as 92,341, a slight decrease from 93,619 the previous year.

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He said the “point in time” methodology used by HUD doesn’t give an accurate picture of the problem.

“The value of the (point-in-time) count is communities can use it as a measurement from year to year,” Hufnagel said. “It’s more about looking for trends but it’s not good for using the overall estimation of the number of people homeless through the year.”

» Read the full report on The Detroit News.