Outgoing President Barack Obama failed to keep his 2010 promise to end chronic homelessness in America, according to his own administration’s estimates.
Obama in 2010 pledged to end chronic homelessness by 2017, but a year-end report the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) issued Thursday found 77,000 people experienced homelessness on one night in January 2016.
HUD is still trying to play up its record, claiming that figure has dropped 27 percent since 2010. But it’s hard to tell whether that’s the case, as a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released this summer found HUD didn’t consistently collect the data needed to track progress on its homelessness goals. (RELATED: Residents Blast D.C. Mayor’s Homeless Shelter Plan)
The Obama administration also promised to end chronic homelessness among veterans by 2015 but failed to do so, according to HUD. On a single night in January, 2016, nearly 40,000 veterans were on the streets, according to HUD.
“Every person deserves a safe, stable place to call home,” HUD Secretary Julian Castro said in a news release. “The Obama administration has made unprecedented progress toward ending homelessness and today marks the seventh straight year of measurable progress. While we know that our work is far from finished, it’s clear we’re on the right track to prevent and end homelessness for good.”
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