US homeless numbers stay about the same as before pandemic

By JANIE HAR and GEOFF MULVIHILL
Associated Press

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) — President Joe Biden’s administration is making a new push to reduce homelessness. The initiative comes as a federal survey confirms something that’s obvious to people in many cities: The problem is not waning. The nationwide Point in Time count found that about 582,000 people were without housing earlier this year. That’s an increase of less than 1% from the last nationwide tally, conducted in early 2020 before the coronavirus pandemic hit the country hard. The federal initiative seeks to drive the count down by 25% by 2025 through efforts to house people who are homeless and prevent others from losing their homes in the first place.