Annual Homelessness Count Highlights Racial Disparities In NJ

NEW JERSEY, — A statewide snapshot of New Jersey’s homelessness crisis since the pandemic hit reveals that the number of people without a stable place to call home increased by at least 2,000 over the past three years, to 8,754.

With homelessness on the rise in New Jersey, advocates have discovered that race, rather than poverty, is a better predictor of who is homeless.

During what is referred to as the Point in Time count, Monarch Housing Associates identified 8,754 individuals residing in emergency shelters, motels, transitional housing, or unsheltered on the streets across the state.

According to Monarch Housing Associates, the nonprofit that organizes the count and produces the annual report, Black people were overrepresented, making up 48 percent of those counted despite making up only 12 percent of the state's population.

According to Taiisa Kelly, CEO of Monarch Housing Associates, this has been a consistent trend throughout the state for years, indicating that homelessness is not solely caused by poverty.

The report also found that persons identifying as Black make up 52 percent of the sheltered population (those in emergency shelters or transitional housing) and 45 percent of the unsheltered population.

Every year, states dispatch surveyors to scour the streets and count the number of people living in shelters for one day in order to send the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development a "point in time" survey, an incomplete count of homelessness that the federal agency requires in order to disburse federal funds and assist communities in identifying their populations in need.

The state's homeless population appeared to have been on the decline, with a 16 percent decrease from the 9,663 people counted in January 2020 to 2021. However, survey organizers warn that this year's results are artificially low due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

With an increase of 657 people this year, the numbers are slowly creeping back up.

A complex system of circumstances, such as structural racism, a lack of affordable housing or a support system, and an individual's health conditions, can all contribute to homelessness, making it more difficult to resolve, according to Kelly.

"Given this information, it is clear that more research is needed to fully understand the causes, correlations and impacts of racial disparities in who experiences homelessness and how they experience and navigate the systems of service," Monarch Housing Associates said.

Surveyors counted 8,754 New Jerseyans from 6,631 families experiencing homelessness over two weeks starting Jan. 25, 2022, according to the report compiled by Monarch Housing Associates. Volunteers counted 1,824 children under 18 years old without stable housing.

Twenty percent — 1,750 people counted — were chronically homeless, meaning they have lacked stable housing for a year or more, or at least four times in the past three years for a period of a year. Volunteers counted 978 people who were sleeping on the street, in a car, in an abandoned building or at a train station, or who were otherwise not in a shelter.

Essex County found the most people facing housing instability, making up 22 percent of all those counted statewide: 1,914 people. Hudson counted 665 people, Union counted 677 and Camden counted 625 people.

Nearly half of people experiencing homelessness reported having some type of disability. About 60 percent of those reporting a disability said they suffer from mental health issues, while 45 percent said they had a substance abuse disorder.

Over 12 percent of the people surveyed were victims of domestic violence. More than 400 housing-insecure people counted were veterans and nearly 1,200 had physical disabilities.

"While the homeless service system cannot address the larger systemic issues of race and inequity alone, partnerships with a variety of sectors can help mitigate the impact of systemic racism within the homeless service system. Essex County has an opportunity to move the system in a direction of ending homelessness by building strategies that take into account the disparate outcomes by race and partnering with critical sectors to successfully address the needs of individuals and families experiencing homelessness," Monarch Housing Associates said.

HUD Secretary Marcia Fudge announced a "House America" initiative last year with the goal of rehousing at least 100,000 families and building new affordable housing for 20,000 families. The initiative encourages states, counties and municipalities to use the historic investments provided by the American Rescue Plan to immediately re-house and build additional housing for people experiencing homelessness.