Expanding HUD’s Definition of Homelessness

HUD’s definition of homelessness is limited to people living on the streets or in shelters; it excludes people living in doubled-up situations and those in motels.

HUD’s definition is especially bad for rural areas where there aren’t shelters, for couch-surfing homeless youth, for reservations where the cultural norm is to open your home to someone in need, for battered women who turn to the safety offered by friends when shelters are full, and for families with children for whom living on the street is simply not a safe option.

The U.S. Department of Education has a broader definition, and specifically mentions children and youth who are “sharing the housing of others due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason.”

Additionally, it includes children and youth who “are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camp grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations.”

HUD’s definition should be amended to explicitly include people who are doubled-up or living in motels. Only by acknowledging the full extent of homelessness can we begin to find solutions to ending it.

Action Needed: The U.S. Conference of Mayors will consider a resolution to expand the definition of homelessness at their next meeting in June 2006. Please urge your mayor to join Mayor Mark Begich (Anchorage, AK) in sponsoring the resolution.

The deadline for sign-ons is April 19, 2006. If your mayor would like to co-sponsor the resolution, please ask your mayor’s office to contact Julie Hasquet, communications director for Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, at hasquetjm@muni.org or (907) 343-7103.

Editor’s Note: Cities and towns with populations less than 30,000 are not represented at the Conference of Mayors.