The 2011 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress

Alvaro Cortes, Abt Associates
Louise Rothschild
RJ de la Cruz, Abt Associates
Meghan Henry, Abt Associates
Claudia Solari, Abt Associates
Jill Khadduri, Abt Associates
Dennis P. Culhane, University of Pennsylvania

Abstract

Between 2007 and 2011, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has released an annual report on the extent of homelessness in the United States—the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR). The report documents how many people are using shelter programs for homeless people, and how many people are in unsheltered locations that are often called “the streets.” The AHAR is delivered each year to the U.S. Congress, and its contents are used to inform Federal, State, and local policies to prevent and end homelessness. This 2011 AHAR presents the most recent national estimates of homelessness, focusing on people who experience homelessness by themselves, as family members, and as members of specific subpopulations. For each of these populations, the estimates describe how homelessness has changed over time and provide a demographic profile of homelessness in America.