Homelessness in Illinois ticked up slightly this year. But it’s been trending down nationally over the years with one major exception.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s latest national estimate of homelessness says Illinois’ overall rate rose half-a-percent in 2015 compared to the previous year.
But, HUD says, overall homelessness in Illinois is still down 8.5 percent from 2010. That compares to an 11 percent decline nationally.
HUD says different measures of homelessness in the state have dropped in parallel with the rest of the country, with one glaring exception: Veteran homelessness nationwide declined 36 percent between 2010 and 2015, but in Illinois it rose more than 13 percent over the same period.
HUD’s estimates are based on “point-in-time” estimates, which seek to measure the scope of homelessness on a single night in January each year.