Reality: The homeless are among the least threatening group in our society and are more likely to be victims of crime. Although they are more likely to commit non-violent and non-destructive crimes, they are less likely to commit crimes against people or property.

Dr. Pamela Fischer, of Johns Hopkins University, studied the 1983 arrest records in Baltimore and found that although homeless individuals were more likely to commit non-violent and nondestructive crimes, they were actually less likely to commit crimes against person or property.¹

The report findings are summarized in the following table.

	% of crimes against person or property	% of all other types of crimes
Crimes committed by homeless people	25%	75%
Crimes committed by non-homeless people	35%	65%

The Magnet Theory
Myth: Setting up services for homeless people will cause homeless people from other areas to migrate to a city.

Reality: Studies have shown that homeless people do not migrate for services. When they do move to new areas, it is because they are searching for work, have family in the area or other reasons not related to services.
A recent study found that 75% of homeless people are still living in the city in which they became homeless.²

Reality: The homeless population is quite diverse in terms of their length of homelessness and the number of times they cycle in and out of homelessness.
Research on the length of homelessness states that 40% of homeless people have been homeless less than six months and 70% of homeless people have been homeless less than two years.³

Other research on the length of homelessness has identified three primary categories of homeless people:

• Transitionally homeless who have a single episode of homelessness lasting an average of 58 days.
• Episodically homeless who have four to five episodes of homelessness lasting a total of 265 days.
• Chronically homeless who have an average of two episodes, lasting a total of 650 days.⁴

Reality: Families constitute a large and growing percentage of the homeless population.

A recent study found that families comprise 38% of the urban homeless population.⁵ Other research finds that homeless families comprise the majority of homeless people in rural areas.⁶

More facts:

• One out of four is employed full- or part-time.
• One out of four is a war veteran.
• One out of four is a child.
• The fastest growing homeless group in the U.S. is families with children.
• Thirty-six percent of people with AIDS have been homeless since learning that they had HIV or AIDS.
• The numbers who are homeless for at least one night during the year is probably over three million.
• Millions are among the hidden homeless--people who are one crisis away from losing their homes.
• The homeless are found not only in cities, but also in small towns, rural areas and affluent suburbs.
• Many homeless people have completed high school; some have attended college and even graduate school.
  

Reality: Homeless people do work, and a relatively small percentage of them receive government assistance. A nationwide study by the Urban Institute in 1987 found that only 20% of 1,704 homeless people received AFDC, GA, or SSI.⁷ A study done in Chicago found that 39% of homeless people interviewed had worked for some time during the previous month.⁸

Reality: Around a quarter of homeless people are mentally ill, and about 40% are alcohol or substance abusers, with around 15% suffering both disabilities.

Koegel has researched the prevalence of mental illness among the homeless population and found "between 20% and 25% of those homeless people studied have at some time experienced severe and often extremely disabling mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and the major affective disorders (clinical depression or bipolar disorder)."⁹

James Wright, of Tulane University, has studied the prevalence of alcohol and other drug abuse among the homeless population. He found that 38% of homeless people are alcohol abusers, as opposed to 10% of the general population. He also found that 13% of homeless people are drug abusers.¹⁰

The Center for Mental Health Services states that between 10 and 20% of homeless people suffer "co-occurring severe mental and substance use disorders."¹¹

Other Myths
Myth: They're to blame for being homeless.

Reality: Most homeless people are victims. Some have suffered from child abuse or violence. Nearly one quarter are children. Many have lost their jobs.

Myth: Charitable groups will take care of the homeless.

Reality: The growth of homelessness has far exceeded the capacity of charitable groups. Homelessness is a societal problem that requires a partnership between private charities and the government, with active public support.

1. James Wright, Memo to NLCHP: Transiency of Homeless Substance Abusers 1 (March 11, 1997)
2. Martha Burt, What We Know About Helping the Homeless and What It Means For HUD's Homeless Programs Testimony presented to the Housing and Community Development Subcommittee of the Banking and Financial Institutions Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives 1 (March 5, 1997).
3. Dennis Culhane, Testimony presented to the Housing and Community Development Subcommittee of the Pamela Fischer, Criminal Activity Among the Homeless: A Study of Arrests in Baltimore 49 (January, 1988).
4. Banking and Financial Institutions Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives, Figure 3 (March 5, 1997).
5. U.S. Conference of Mayors, A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities:1996 (1996)
6. Yvonne Vissing, Out of Sight, Out of Mind: Homeless Children and Families in Small Town America, 1996 (1996).
7. Martha Burt and Cohen, America's Homeless: Numbers, Characteristics, and Programs that Serve Them 43 (1989).
8. Peter Rossi, Down and Out in America 40 (1989).
9. Paul Koegel, Causes of Homelessness, Homelessness in America 31 (1996).
10. James Wright, Homelessness and Health 68 (1987).
11. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Center for Mental Health Services, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Integrating Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services for Homeless People with Co-Occurring Mental and Substance Use Disorders.

Additional Sources
Special Populations of Homeless Americans. (August 1999) The 1998 National Symposium on Homelessness Research. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved on August 7, 2001, from http://aspe.os.dhhs.gov/progsys/homeless/symposium/2-Spclpop.htm
A Status Report on Hunger and Homelessness in America's Cities. (December 2000) U.S. Conference of Mayors. Retrieved on August 7, 2001, from http://www.mayors.org/uscm/hungersurvey/hunger2000.pdf