A Real Conversation About Homelessness
Robert G. Marbut Jr.
“The U.S. has seen a record increase in homelessness this year, according to a Wall Street Journal review of data from around the country,” reports LinkedIn News. “The Journal’s analysis found that approximately 11% more people were homeless in 2023 than in 2022, bringing the total to up to over 577,000 people.”
Over 577,000 human beings. Could that reality be judged as disturbing and correctable for a nation like the United States? That number, as large and shocking as it may be however, isn’t accurate, says one expert.
“The Wall Street Journal story is only part of a much bigger picture,” says Robert G. Marbut Jr., Ph.D., at Marbut Consulting. “The article only focuses on HUD street-level homelessness. The actual overall picture is much worse.”
Marbut would know as he works with communities to dramatically reduce homelessness and is one of the directors of the movie “No Address” and the documentary “Americans with No Address,” which examines and addresses homelessness, based on a tour of 17 major US cities, visiting shelters and interviewing people on the street.
“The U.S. Department of Education (ED) and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) have different definitions and metrics of homelessness,” he points out.
“ED focuses on families with children experiencing homelessness while HUD focuses on adults experiencing homelessness. HUD and ED each track five different sub-categories of homelessness, for a total of 10 different homelessness cohorts.
“Street-level homelessness is just one cohort,” Marbut elaborates, adding that “All total HUD counts about 1.2 million people experiencing homelessness. ED reports about 1.5 million people experiencing homelessness, for a total that is approaching 3 million people.”
He has been deeply engaged in studying, analyzing and responding to homelessness for more than three decades as a volunteer, chief of staff to San Antonio Mayor Henry Cisneros, a White House Fellow to President H.W. Bush, a San Antonio City Councilperson/ Mayor-Pro-Tem and as a founding president and CEO of Haven for Hope, the most comprehensive homeless transformational center in the USA.
“Our country has a homelessness crisis that is getting much worse,” Marbut warns, “with many communities formally declaring state of of emergencies.”
Yet many observers remain dispassionate.
Marbut thinks the current messaging about the social issue and the flaws in it and what can be improved and how — to help inspire productive action.
“Any efforts to address the web of interlocking crises of homelessness, untreated mental illness and addiction are doomed to failure if we begin with an inadequate diagnosis of the root causes,” he states.
“The lack of housing is a major factor in what we call homelessness, but it is erroneous to view homelessness as primarily, let alone solely, a housing problem that can be solved by building more taxpayer subsidized housing.”
The assumed “obvious” is not always the solution for a complex problem.
“A housing-only approach that ignores untreated mental illness with co-presenting substance abuse disorders is doomed to failure, especially with street-level adults experiencing homelessness,” Marbut stresses, adding “To be successful, we need to address untreated mental illness, addiction, and substance use disorders, as well as housing issues.”
Inspiring people to take action that can work isn’t easy yet Marbut is encouraged by what people can and will learn if they seek out additional understanding.
“Both the theatrical movie “No Address” and the documentary “Americans with No Address” will increase awareness of the homelessness crisis and the real root causes,” he contends, “which we hope will harness more volunteers and funding, as well as better policy-making to better address the homelessness crisis.
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Fact Sheet: State of Homelessness, 2023 Edition
National Alliance to End Homelessness
Most groups of color have higher rates of homelessness than their White counterparts—and, in some cases, far higher. Within the White group, 11 out of every 10,000 people experience homelessness.
For Black people, that number is more than four times as large—48 out of every 10,000 people.
Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islanders particularly stand out as having the highest rates, with 121 out of every 10,000 people experiencing homelessness.
Men, who are 68 percent of the individuals population, far outnumber women and are far more likely to experience homelessness.
40 percent of people experiencing homelessness live unsheltered, which means their primary nighttime residence is a place not suitable for human habitation (for example, a city sidewalk, vehicle, abandoned building, or park).
Significantly, living unsheltered can impact a person’s health and safety.
The number of people living unsheltered decreased most years between 2007 and 2015. However, mirroring the pattern for individuals experiencing homelessness, that trend has recently made an about-face turn.
The unsheltered population has grown yearly since 2015, amounting to a 35 percent increase over a seven-year span.
In the lead up to the pandemic, the nationwide poverty rate had decreased for five consecutive years. In 2020, that streak ended and the number of people living in poverty increased by approximately 3.3 million people.
This trend continued into 2021 when nearly 41.4 million people, or 12.8 percent of the U.S. population, were counted in this group.
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