A new report by the Connecticut Coalition To End Homelessness says homelessness in the state is at an all-time low, with fewer than 4,000 homeless people in Connecticut since counts started in 2007.
Every year the Coalition does what’s called a point-in-time count, where they count all homeless people in the state on a given night. That includes people in shelters, and on the streets. This year they found about 3,900 homeless people on one night in January.
That’s a 13 percent drop.
Lisa Tepper-Bates is the Coalition’s executive director. She says homeless providers like her group and other social service organizations are working together with state and federal agencies like never before.
“Seeing these numbers tells me that those tremendous efforts of those providers across the state are having the desired effect. So we’re saving lives and it’s working.”
The report also found a 20 percent drop in the number of chronically homeless people. Those are people with disabilities who have been homeless for at least one year, or four times in the past three years.
In February Connecticut became the second state, after Virginia, to effectively end veteran homelessness by providing all veterans with access to housing. Governor Dannel Malloy says the state is trying to eliminate chronic homelessness by the end of the year.
Copyright 2016 WSHU
