New Report Shows Homeless Have Overlapping Needs

A new report by the Institute for Children, Poverty and Homelessness provides some crucial data and graphics to illustrate what many homeless and homeless advocates already know: Homelessness often accompanies substance use, intimate partner violence, HIV/AIDS, and mental illness. Here's some of the data the present connecting HIV and homelessness:

• HIV/AIDS affects roughly six percent of adults in families and individuals living in permanent supportive housing (5.8% and 6.6%, respectively).
• The rate of infection for homeless families is nearly twelve times higher than for persons nationwide (0.5%).
• Homeless mothers, with their limited access to screenings and preventative care, have a higher risk of infection than their housed peers.
• The effects of the disease (exorbitant health care costs and job loss from discrimination or extended absence) can increase the risk of homelessness for low-income families.
• Up to 70% of persons living with HIV/AIDS report one or more episodes of housing instability.
• Conversely, homelessness is associated with HIV-risk behaviors, including substance use; a Florida study reported that almost one-third (30.5%) of HIV-positive homeless clinic clients were injection drug users, nearly three times the national rate (11.7%).

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