ABSTRACT
People working with the homeless and their problems cannot be expected to know and be the source of reliable overall numbers of how many homeless there are altogether. The number of homeless the report puts forth is the number on any given night. The report acknowledges that another important figure is "how many people were homeless at any one time or another throughout the year." The number homeless at one time or another is terribly important in determining the shelter needs of the homeless. While it is technically accurate not to count as homeless such households, the Housing and Urban Development report recognizes that the potential for "eviction" into the streets or their cars is high. Since this change of status may happen overnight, an honest assessment of the homelessness problem would attempt a count or estimate of these involuntarily doubled-up households. Malign neglect of existing public housing projects has reduced the stock of housing potentially available to the homeless.
