Homelessness Defined

Simply defined, homelessness is the state of having no home or permanent place of residence. But it is a state far more complicated than this given definition. In America, many organizations'both the government agencies in charge of providing programs for homeless individuals and the privately-managed organizations whose mission is to help in the elimination of the state of homelessness in the country'have defined homelessness in different ways.

In the United Nations Demographic Yearbook review by the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs Statistics Division, Demographic and Social Statistic Branch, it was discussed that the correct definition of a homeless household should be, in accordance with the United Nations Principles and Recommendations for Population and Housing Censuses which states that Gǣhomeless households are those households without a shelter that would fall within the scope of living quarters. They carry their few possessions with them, sleeping in the streets, in doorways or on piers, or in any other space, on a more or less random basis.Gǥ

Per the Health Resources and Services Administration , U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, GǣA homeless individual is an individual who lacks housing (without regard to whether the individual is a member of a family), including an individual whose primary residence during the night is a supervised public or private facility (e.g., shelters) that provides temporary living accommodations, and an individual who is a resident in transitional housing.Gǥ A homeless person is an individual without permanent housing who may live on the streets; stay in a shelter, mission, single room occupancy facilities, abandoned building or vehicle; or in any other unstable or non-permanent situation. [Section 330 of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C., 254b)]

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development uses G