(The Center Square)— The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development released its 2024 point-in-time homelessness numbers to pass along to Congress, including statistics for Arizona.
Arizona has 14,737 people estimated to be homeless, and 50% of those people are presumably unsheltered, according to the data.
From 2023, this was an increase of 500 people. The vast majority, 11,640, were people who are by themselves, and 58% of them are unsheltered.
According to state estimates, the HUD report estimates that 3,097 families are facing homelessness in the Grand Canyon State, and 17% of them are unsheltered. From last year to this year, this was an increase of 411 families.
The report further explained the changes over the year in the state, especially when it came to a higher estimated number of families that are grappling with homelessness.
“These increases were driven by: increased PIT count coordination that allowed for expanded surveying in rural parts of the state where more families experiencing unsheltered homelessness were living; an increase in shelter capacity in one major city that allowed programs to serve more families experiencing homelessness; and an undersupply of emergency shelter capacity for families experiencing homelessness in the other major city that resulted in an increase in unsheltered family homelessness,” the report states.
The homelessness crisis and affordable housing was a major political focus in the city of Phoenix and the state government in recent years.
Most notably, Phoenix was court ordered to clear out “The Zone”— a large homeless encampment in downtown Phoenix— in 2023, and Arizona voters went in support of Proposition 312 in the November election, which allows a property tax refund related to specific issues tied “illegal camping” and other problems.
