Who is considered homeless?
Under a HUD definition a person is considered homeless who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate night-time residence and; has a primary night time residency that is a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations. This definition of homelessness does not include households who are sharing the housing of others temporarily because they have nowhere else to go (commonly referred to as “doubled-up”), or those who are staying in motels and similar places due to lack of alternatives. Programmatic definitions for different HUD programs may be even more restrictive. Because such households are not included in the HUD definition of homelessness, they are excluded from HUD services. See “A Matter of Definition: Responding to Homelessness Among Families, Children, and Youth” for additional discussion.
