Camden County Homeless Rate Up Over 11 Percent From 2015-2016, Report Shows

Camden County is home to the fourth highest rate of homelessness in New Jersey, according to a new report from Monarch Housing Associates, a non-profit group that strives to end homelessness.

There are a total of 683 people in 558 households in Camden County who are experiencing homelessness, according to the NJ Counts 2016 report. This accounts for 7.6 percent of the total homeless population in the state.

The numbers reflected an increase of over 11 percent from last year’s numbers.

For purposes of the report, homeless people are classified into two groups, as defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD):

• Sheltered, or “living in a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangement (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state, or local government programs for low-income individuals),” and
• Unsheltered, “with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground.”

The survey must be taken for one overnight period during the last 10 days of January, and doesn’t include anyone who is at risk for becoming homeless.

The report classifies a household as “any group of persons who, if they were able to attain permanent housing, would choose to live together; and, shared the same sleeping arrangements on the night of the count.”

Essex County leads the way with a homeless population of 1,782, which is nearly 20 percent of the state total. Burlington County had a homeless rate of 10.4 percent, and Hudson County had a homeless rate of 9.3 percent.

Salem and Warren counties are at the bottom of the scale, with homeless populations of less than 1 percent.

There are a total of 8,941 homeless men, women and children across the state as of Jan. 26, according to the report.

In Camden County, 347 homeless persons stayed in emergency shelters, 186 stayed in transitional housing, and 150 were living unsheltered on the night of the count.

The number of persons in transitional housing decreased by 49 persons (20.9%) from 2015. However, the number of persons in emergency shelter increased from 2015 by 62 persons (21.8%) and the number of those in unsheltered locations increased by 59 (64.8%).

The homeless number has shifted up and down slightly for several years, but it is trending upward over the last five years.

Of the 558 homeless households counted in Camden County in 2016, 45 (8.1%) were families with at least one child under the age of 18 and one adult.

These families were composed of 105 children under age 18. The average family size was 3.5 persons. A total of 32 families were staying in emergency shelter (71.1%), and 5 were in transitional housing programs (11.1%).

There were 8 unsheltered families, consisting of 13 adults and 14 children. In 2016, Camden County counted 3 fewer homeless families than in 2015, a decrease of 6.3%.

A total of 91.8% (512) of the homeless households in Camden County were households without children under 18, and they were composed of 522 adults. 234 (45.7%) of these adult-only households were staying in emergency shelters, 163 (31.8%) were in transitional housing, and 115 (22.5%) were unsheltered.

Camden County has seen the number of adult-only homeless households increase by 63 (14%) since 2015. In 2016, there was 1 household in transitional housing with only children under 18. This household had 1 unaccompanied minor, and represents an increase from 0 households in 2015.

About 46 percent of those considered homeless were disabled, and 45 homeless households had a victim of domestic violence. The number of homeless veterans was 136, the same as last year.

About 40 percent of homeless households had no income.

The amount of time people reported being homeless hovered around 100 across the board, with 103 being homeless for any amount of time between six months and over one year, 98 between one and three months, 96 for a week or less, and 85 between three and six months. About 66 people reported being homeless for between a week and a month.

About 20 percent of homeless people in Camden County had been asked to leave a shared residence. Loss of job or reduction of income and eviction were the next two major causes of homelessness in the county.

For more on the Camden County homeless situation, click here.

To see the full report for the state, click here.

The attached image is a Patch file photo