Report has new data about Hawaii homeless | The Honolulu Advertiser

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Report has new data about Hawaii homeless | The Honolulu Advertiser | Hawaii's Newspaper

Updated at 3:51 p.m., Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Report has new data about Hawaii homeless

Advertiser Staff

A new University of Hawaii report on the homeless provides new insight into the population, including that about one-third are 17 and younger.

The report, released today, is designed to help service providers meet the needs of the homeless, especially as the economic downturn is expected to swell their ranks.

"If we know that more people are going to need it (shelter), we better have the resources to serve them," said report author Sarah Yuan.

Other highlights of the report include:

In fiscal year 2007, shelters served about 6,733 statewide. About 75 percent of those served were on Oahu.

Less than one-fifth of all adults who received homeless services during the period had been in the Islands less than a year.

Shelters statewide served 22 percent more clients in fiscal year 2007 than two years earlier. The growth is largely attributed to more programs opening.

In fiscal year 2007, about half of all shelter users left their programs within three months, though it's unclear how many of those moved into long-term homes.

The third annual report was produced by the Center on the Family at UH.

Read it at www.uhfamily.hawaii.edu/publications/brochures/HomelessServiceUtilization2008.pdf

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