Fast Facts Mental Health Disabilities Who are the Homeless Homeless Population by Race and Ethnicity References Fast Facts An estimated 40 to 45 % of homeless persons suffer from Axis I mental disorders, while undifferentiated mental health problems affect between 45 and 50 %.(1) In 1996, an estimated 637,000 adults were homeless in a given week. In the same year, an estimated 2.1 million adults were homeless over the course of a year. These numbers increase dramatically when children are included, to 842,000 and 3.5 million, respectively.(2)     Little housing for those with mental health disabilities and low-incomes... People with disabilities, including mental health disabilities, who are unable to work and must rely on entitlements such as Supplemental Security Income (SSI) can find it virtually impossible to find affordable housing. People receiving Federal SSI benefits, which were $545 per month in 2002, cannot cover the cost of an efficiency or one-bedroom apartment in any major housing market in the country.(3) Who are the homeless? A collection of studies show that men, people with less education, people with mental health and substance problems, and people who had been incarcerated tended to be homeless longer than people without those characteristics.(4) Nearly one fourth of the currently homeless had been psychiatrically hospitalized, and about one-third had been detoxified for alcohol or drugs.(4)   Homeless Population by Race/Ethnicity In the 2000 census, 33% of the emergency and transitional shelter population reported non-Hispanic white as their race, compared with 40% African American, 19.9% Hispanic, 2.4% American Indian/Alaskan Native, and 2.3% Asian.(5)     References 1. Orwin RG, Goldman HH, Sonnefeld LJ, et al. Alcohol and drug abuse treatment of homeless persons: results from the NIAAA Community Demonstration Program. J Health Care Poor Underserved 1994;5(4):326-52. 2. Burt, M.R., Aron, L.Y., Lee, E., and Valente, J.J., (2001) Helping America's Homeless. Washington, DC: Urban Institute Press. 3. O'Hara, A., Miller, E. (2000) Priced Out in 2000: The Crisis Continues. Boston, MA: Technical Assistance Collaborative, Inc. 4. Phelan JC, Link BG. Who are "the homeless"? Reconsidering the stability and composition of the homeless population. Am J Public Health 1999;89(9):1334-8. 5. Smith AC and DI Smith. U.S. Census Bureau, Census Special Reports, Series CENSR/01-2, Emergency and Transitional Shelter Population: 2000, U.S. Government Printing Office, Washington, DC, 2001.   This research was supported by a National Library of Medicine (NLM) Publication Grant #5G08 LM07653-02 in support of the creation of a web site titled Factline: Tracking Health in Underserved Communities, www.factline.org. Saqi S. Maleque, MSPH, Researcher, Principal Investigator: Virginia Brennan, PhD.