The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development published a report Thursday that sheds light on the Massachusetts homeless population, which, sadly, is growing faster than any state in the country.
Fortunately, though, this is not a nationwide trend, but suffice to say it doesn’t bode well for the Bay State. According to HUD, “there were 578,424 persons experiencing homelessness on a single night in 2014. This represents an overall 10 percent reduction and 25 percent drop in the unsheltered population since 2010.”
When taking to account the rates of homelessness over time, both between 2013 and 2014, as well as 2007 and 2014, numbers dropped in 36 states and 31 states, respectively.
But in Massachusetts those numbers are on the rise.
The data compiled by HUD shows that Massachusetts had the second highest increase in its homeless population between 2013 and 2014, with 2,208 people while only trails New York. HUD estimates the Commonwealth’s homeless population now stands at 21,237, which constitutes roughly three to six percent of its entire population.
Between 2007 and 2014, Massachusetts’s rate of homelessness was unparalleled in terms of growth. Though New York’s number of homeless individuals was the highest at 17,989 — a 29 percent increase — Massachusetts’s increase was an eye-popping 40 percent, at 6,110 people. And keep in mind that New York’s overall population is substantially larger than that of Massachusetts.
“As a nation, we are successfully reducing homelessness in this country, especially for those who have been living on our streets as a way of life,” said HUD Secretary Julián Castro in a statement. “There is still a tremendous amount of work ahead of us but it’s clear our strategy is working and we’re going to push forward till we end homelessness as we’ve come to know it.”
There is something of a silver lining to this unsettling news. Massachusetts has one of the lowest rates of unsheltered homelessness . Of the 21,237 homeless, 759 are unsheltered — totaling 3.6 percent, tied with Nebraska for third lowest in the country.
New England actually has a solid showing in this regard. Rhode Island has a 1.7 percent unsheltered homeless rate, followed by Maine at 3.4 percent. It’s important to remember, though, that their populations overall are among the lowest in the country. Rhode Island, for example, only has 20 unsheltered homeless people compared to Massachusetts’s 759.
Boston’s 34th Annual Homeless Census, published at the end of 2013, showed that, in the City of Boston, homeless rates are also on the rise. The Hub saw a 3.8 percent increase from 6,992 men, women and children in comparison to the previous year.
Featured image via Shutterstock/Photographee.e
