Austin & Travis County Homelessness Facts

How many people in Austin/Travis County are homeless?

As of January 2011, the last documented homeless point-in-time count, it was estimated that there was over 2,300 homeless individuals in Austin/Travis County on any given night.

(Note: The nature of a point-in-time count means that it will always be an undercount, only a fraction of the number of individuals that suffer from homelessness during the course of a year will be captured due to the survey methodology.)

How many of the homeless are members of families with children?

In January 2011, there were 217 homeless households with children, a total of 662 individuals, living in Austin in 2011 - representing 28% of the total homeless population.

How many homeless children attend AISD schools?

AISD estimates that between 3,000 to 5,000 of their students are homeless (Austin Independent School District - Homeless Education Learning Program -Project HELP)

How many homeless individuals in Austin/Travis County suffer from severe mental illness and substance addiction?

21% of the homeless population (501 individuals) in Austin suffer from severe mental illness, and 33% (781 individuals) suffer from chronic substance abuse.

What is the housing shortage for homeless individuals?

As of April 2012, there was a housing shortage of 353 beds in transitional housing and 1251 in permanent supportive housing in Austin.

References

  1. Point-in-Time Data for the Austin/Travis County Continuum of Care on January 23, 2011. HUD's 2011 Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Programs Homeless Populations and Subpopulations. U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Homelessness Resource Exchange.
    http://www.hudhre.info/CoC_Reports/2011_tx_503_pops_sub.pdf