Non-chronic Adult Homelessness: Background and

Opportunities

Dennis P. Culhane University of Pennsylvania

National Center on Homelessness among Veterans

Non-chronic Homeless Adults:

Scope: PIT: 278,713 Annual: 754,400

34.5

13.1

52.4

Annual Number of Persons

Homelessin Family

ChronicHomeless

Non-chronicHomeless

Adults

Adults

14.2

17.2

68.6

Annual Number of Households

FamilyHouseholds

ChronicHomeless

Non-chronicHomeless

Adults

Adults

Aging Trend of Adult Homeless in NYC: Bimodal

Source: Culhane et al. (2013)/ New York City Department of Homeless Services Shelter Utilization Data

*

Changing Age Distribution: Case Study in NYC

50% of the increase in single adult homeless (2005-2010), was from young adults (18-30).

35% of homeless in their 50s, in 2010, were homeless for the 1st time since 1988.

AHAR: Single Adult % by Age

4.8

20.3

51.9

18.9

1.8

24

43.9

25

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

Under age18

18-30 31-50 51-61% S

hel

tere

d I

nd

ivid

ual

s (2

00

7-2

01

3)

Age

20072013

18%

15%

32%

Characteristics by Cluster: Dated Data (Philadelphia, 1998) Nearly all chronically homeless people have a disability:

Clusters by Characteristics

78.3 71.5 74.6 73.8

11.2 10.8 14.1

11.1 10.5 17.7

11.3 15.1

0%10%20%30%40%50%60%70%80%90%

100%

Per

cen

tag

e of

Pop

ula

tion

Background Characteristics by Cluster

TransitionalEpisodicChronic

Most homeless people with a disability are Transitionally Homeless.

Dynamics: Pattern of Homeless Service Use among

Sheltered Individuals: Length of Stay (AHAR)

37.5% 28.9%

33.5%

0

10

20

30

40

7 days orless

8 to 30 days 31 to 180days

Per

cen

tag

e of

u

sers

Length of Stay

(Only stays less than 180 days)

Where do they Come From?

24.4%

22.1% 14.3%

13.4%

25.8%

Institution

Friends

Ownhouse/Apt.

Other

Family

28.9

40

15

13.4

2.7

Institutions

S.A Tx

Jail

Hospital

PsychiatricFacility

FosterCare

Intervention Opportunities Income ◦ Younger: Jobs and Job Training ◦ Older: SSI

Services ◦ Younger: Behavioral Health Supports ◦ Older: Chronic Disease Management

Housing ◦ Younger & Older: Rapid Rehousing

Rapid Rehousing

Critical Time Intervention (CTI)- Potential Medicaid reimbursement

SSVF- Veteran exemplar, approximately 30,000 non-chronic adults served in 2013.

SSVF Rapid Rehousing: Returns to Homelessness (Families Vs. Singles)

0.80.820.840.860.880.9

0.920.940.960.98

1

1 21 41 61 81 101

121

141

161

181

201

221

241

261

281

301

321

341

361

Su

rviv

al P

rop

orti

on

Days Since SSVF

SinglesFamilies

1 Year Singles: 15.7% Families: 10.1%

SSVF Rapid Rehousing Vs. GPD: Rates of Homelessness

0.50.550.6

0.650.7

0.750.8

0.850.9

0.951

1 20 39 58 77 96 115

134

153

172

191

210

229

248

267

286

305

324

343

362

Su

rviv

al P

rop

orti

on

Days Since Program Exit

SSVFGPD

1 Year SSVF: 11.0% GPD: 35.4%

Non-chronic Recap Most homeless households are non-

chronic singles (68.6%) Bimodal age growth (20s and 50s) 24.4% come out of institutions. Most disabled adults are non-chronically

homeless SSVF proves rapid rehousing works Medicaid could pay for CTI