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Children, Families and Homelessness:
2009: More than 37 million people in the country live below the poverty line [source]
2009 June: Since the start of the recession in December 2007, the number of unemployed persons has increased by 7.2 million, and the unemployment rate has risen by 4.6 percent. [source]
2009 April: 72 percent of respondants to a recent UMASS poll support increasing the amount the State spends on rental assistance for families at risk of homelessness
2009 March: 1 in 33 children in Massachusetts do not know where they will get their next meal. [source]
2009 March: The National Center on Family Homelessness ranked Mass 8th out of 50 states in its ability to deal with the issue of child homelessness. [Source]
2009 March: There are 17,505 homeless children in Massachusetts, only 20 other sates have more according to the National Center on Family Homelessness. [Source]
2009 March: 18% of homeless children in Massachusetts reported moderate to severe health conditions, as opposed to only 8.5% of middle-income children in Massachusetts. [Source]
2008: The number of homeless families living in Boston has jumped for the fourth straight year, making children without a home the fastest-growing group. [Source: Boston Homeless Census]
2008: The number of families living in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or even in motels jumped 22 percent in the past year, from 3,175 in 2007 to 3,870 in December. The number of children without a home rose 24 percent in 2008, from 1,850 to 2,288. [Source: Boston Homeless Census]
2008: Child and family homelessness are at an all-time high in Massachusetts. [source]
2008: As of the beginning of October of 2008, there were 2,472 families with 4,413 children temporarily housed in emergency shelter in the Bay State, including 2,379 children under the age of six. [source]
2008: more than 1,000 of the 4,413 children in the emergency shelter system are living with their families in state-funded motels without access to kitchen facilities and with limited access to supports and limited ability to meet other basic family needs, while they wait for a room in a shelter to open up. [source]
2008: Quality early education and care makes a significant difference in the well-being and school-readiness of young homeless children, and helps the parents of those children begin to move towards self-sufficiency. 64% of children living in homeless shelters in Massachusetts are now accessing early education and care, up from 47% in 2007. [source]
2007: compared with both middle-class and poor housed peers, young homeless children experience more developmental delays, emotional problems such as anxiety and depression, and behavioral issues. [source]
2007: Children in marginally food secure households, who are traditionally counted by the government as food secure, are at serious risk of health and developmental problems. [source]
2007: Many of the 2.6 million children under the age of five living in marginally food-secure households are not receiving needed nutritional support through WIC. [source]
2007: Even in kindergarten, children in households with signs of marginal food secruity score lower and learn less during the school year. [source]
2005: Homeless Children are set back academically on average 4-6 months with each change of school. [Source: Bowman,National Center for Homeless Education, Meeting the Educational Needs of Children and Youth Experiencing Homelessness – Pre-K to 12]
1999: 41 percent of homeless children will attend 2 different schools in one year. 28 percent will attend 3 or more schools in one year.
Cost of Housing:
2009: in 2009, Boston’s Housing Report Card study found that the median-income renter would need to spend more than half (51 percent) of his or her income to rent the average-priced rental unit. [Source]
2009: Rents in Greater Boston are 85 percent higher than the national average.
Rents in Greater Boston are 44 percent higher than in Seattle and 83 percent higher than in Charlotte. [Source]
2009: Low- to moderate-income working families work longer hours, endure long commutes or cut back on basic necessities in order to pay for housing.[source]
2009 April: 63.4 percent of respondents to a UMASS poll identified housing affordability as an issue of significant concern. When compared to other major public policy issues, housing affordability and jobs rank as the public policy issues of greatest concern to state residents. [source]
2009 April: 34.9 percent indicated that they or a member of their immediate family were seriously
considering moving out of Massachusetts because of the cost of housing. [source]
2009 March: The hourly wage needed to afford a two bedroom apartment in Massachusetts is $22.94, more than all but three other states.[Source]
Foreclosures:
2009: In 2008, foreclosure deeds in the region reached a high of more than 6,600, adding to the more than 4,000 families who had lost their homes the previous year.[source]
2009 April: According to the state's Department of Transitional Assistance (the Department currently providing much of the services available to homeless families) about 8% of families surveyed blamed their current homelessness on foreclosure. Just a year ago that figure was only 3% [source]
2009 April: More than one in four (25.8 percent) of respondents to a UMASS poll are concerned they will fall behind on their mortgage payments in the next three months. [source]
2009 April: Over 12 percent (12.6) of homeowners polled believe their home is worth less than what they owe on their mortgage.[source]
2009 April: 48 percent of of respondents to a UMASS poll reported that foreclosures are having a negative impact on property values in their neighborhood.[source]
2009 April: 35.7 percent of respondants to a UMASS poll believe that foreclosures are having a negative impact on the quality of life in their neighborhood.[source]
2009 April: 87.5 percent of respondents would support policies that would protect renters in good standing from being evicted from foreclosed properties. [source]
2009: Massachusetts home foreclosures soared 62 percent in 2008 compared with 2007 and were nearly four times higher than two years ago, according to The Warren Group, a Boston-based publisher of real estate data. Nearly 12,500 foreclosure deeds were recorded in 2008, compared with 7,653 in 2007 and 3,130 in 2006.[source]
2009: In the Northeast region’s two largest cities, Lawrence and Lowell, foreclosure filings will approach record numbers in 2008.[source]
2009 February: According to Massforeclosures.com, 288 foreclosures were opened in Haverhill, Lowell and Lawrence between January and March 2009.[Source]
2009 January: More than 950 foreclosures were recorded in Massachusetts during the month of January, a 21.8 percent increase from the same month in 2008 and 4 percent more than a month earlier, according to The Warren Group, publisher of Banker & Tradesman. [source]
2009 January: But lenders started fewer foreclosure proceedings in January 2009 compared to a year before. Lenders filed 1,960 petitions to foreclose in January, a 39 percent decline from the 3,212 petitions filed in January 2008.
2008: In 2008, United Way provided 270 foreclosure related referrals through the 211 information and referral line.
2007: A study of foreclosures in 2007 found that 53% involved properties purchased with no money down (40%) or less than 5% down.[source]
2007: Foreclosures affect renters too. Statewide, multifamily properties represented 34% of the properties that began foreclosure proceedings between January 2007 and March 2008(and 58% of the units in those properties).[source]
Financial Cost of Homelessness:
2009 March: analysis shows a 67 percent reduction in Medicaid costs among Housing First. participants.[source]
2009 March: The projected annual cost savings to the Commonwealth per housed tenant is $8,948.52. [source]
2006: Estimates show that $238M in state dollars is spent on managing homelessness. Average Cost of Shelter Stays by type: Transitional $11,550; Episodic $21,450; Long term $48,440. [source: Cluster analysis by D. Culhane and S. Metraux].
United Way and Housing
2009 February: As of February 23, 2009, 357 formerly chronically homeless people have been housed in the Home & Healthy for Good, a Housing First program run by United Way partner agency Massachusetts Housing and Shelter Alliance. Tenant retention stands at 84 percent. [source]
2008: In 2008, United Way provided 270 foreclosure related referrals through the 211 information and referral line.
2008: In FY2008, United Way investments provided foreclosure prevention counseling to 275 homeowners at-risk of foreclosure. United Way investments also stabilized 54 homeowners.
2008: In FY2008, United Way helped to produce, preserve or place in property management 7,256 housing units.
2008: In FY2008, United Way helped 2190 individuals obtain affordable housing.
2008: In FY2008, United Way helped 8913 individuals retain affordable housing
2008:In FY2008, United Way helped 2534 individuals gain financial skills
2008: In FY2008, United Way helped 488 individuals gain financial stability
