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Bring HUD's Definition of Homelessness in Line with Reality
  1. Signatures
    1,797 out of 2,500
    Petitioning
    1. Secretary, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (Shaun Donovan)
  2. Created By
    David Henderson
    Los Angeles, CA
About this Petition Petition Letter Petition Updates
Why This Is Important

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) definition of homelessness is confined to people living on the street or in shelters. HUD should expand its definition of homelessness to include not only people living in the street or in shelters, but people in motels and with friends and family due to economic hardship, as the McKinney-Vento definition does.

The HUD definition of homelessness is the definition generally used by communities conducting homeless counts. It is simply inane to assess the level of homelessness in a community and not include people living in motels or double or triple occupying cramped apartments with friends or family. The risk in not adopting a more realistic definition of homelessness is very real.

If we are to end homelessness, we have to agree on what homelessness means, and how we measure it. The current HUD definition of homelessness, which acts as the basis for homeless counts, fundamentally obscures our ability to assess the true number of persons experiencing homelessness. Tell HUD to count everyone without a home as homeless.

Photo credit: cyberuly

Recent Signatures

Please Update HUD's Definition of Homelessness

Greetings,

The current definition of homelessness used by the Department of Housing and Urban Development fails to reflect the realities of the homeless population. The HUD definition dramatically under-counts the homeless population by only considering those living in shelters, cars, or in public places as homeless, leaving out people living in motels or staying with friends or family members due to economic hardship.

If we are to end homelessness, we must accurately understand the scope of the homeless population. Therefore, HUD should bring its definition of homelessness in line with the McKinney-Vento definition, which better accounts for homeless youth and families as well as those experiencing chronic homelessness.

Please count everyone without a home as homeless.

[Your name]