Definitions

HOMELESS, INDIVIDUAL

“(1) an individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and

(2) an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is–

(A) a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill);

(B) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or

(C) a public or private place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.

Exclusion: …the term “homeless'’ or “homeless individual'’ does not include any individual imprisoned or otherwise detained pursuant to an Act of the Congress or a State law.”

Source: United States Government, Stewart B. McKinney Homeless Assistance Act of 1987

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HOMELESS, INDIVIDUAL, CHRONIC

“‘an unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more OR has had at least four (4) episodes of homelessness in the past three (3) years.’ [A disabling condition is defined as a diagnosable substance use disorder, serious mental illness, developmental disability, or chronic physical illness or disability, including the co-occurrence of two or more of these conditions.]”Source: U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)

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HOMELESS, YOUTH & CHILDREN

(A) means individuals who lack a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence (within the meaning of section 103(a)(1)); and

(B) includes–

(i) children and youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks, or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or are awaiting foster care placement;

(ii) children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings (within the meaning of section 103(a)(2)(C));

(iii) children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings, substandard housing, bus or train stations, or similar settings; and

(iv) migratory children (as such term is defined in section 1309 of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965) who qualify as homeless for the purposes of this subtitle because the children are living in circumstances described in clauses (i) through (iii).

Source: NCHE: “McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act”

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POINT IN TIME COUNT

“The Point in Time Count is a one day, statistically reliable, unduplicated count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless individuals and families in the county. It is required that communities which wish to use HUD Continuum of Care funding to serve the homeless do such a count each year in the last week of January. NC DHHS coordinates the statewide one-night count in North Carolina. The Homeless Prevention Coalition of Guilford County participates in the statewide count and fulfills HUD requirements by using professionals and volunteers to perform a Point in Time count on that day.”Source: Nancy Hunter, consultant

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SAFE HAVEN

A Safe Haven is a “form of supportive housing in which a structure or a clearly identifiable portion of a structure: (1) serves hard-to-reach homeless persons with severe mental illnesses who are on the streets and have been unable or unwilling to participate in supportive services; (2) provides 24-hour residence for an unspecified duration; (3) provides private or semi-private accommodations; (4) may provide for the common use of kitchen facilities, dining rooms, and bathrooms; and (5) in which overnight occupancy is limited to no more than 25 persons. A safe haven may also provide supportive services on a drop-in basis to eligible persons who are not residents.”Source: HUD.