A new report published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), “Hunger and Homelessness,” analyzes the geographic distribution of funding for key federal programs that can provide food or housing assistance to those experiencing homelessness. Researchers found that state funding per capita for these programs does not always align with rates of homelessness, income inequality, and median rent. GAO also reports that a change to the Emergency Solutions Grants (ESG) funding formula in 2020 resulted in better targeting of resources to states with larger homeless populations compared to the traditional formula.
Researchers at GAO analyzed the geographic distribution of funding for three federal programs that provide food or housing assistance: HUD’s Continuum of Care (CoC) and ESG programs and FEMA’s Emergency Food and Shelter Program (EFSP). To determine the geographic distribution of funding, GAO analyzed three indicators of need – rates of homelessness, median rents, and income inequality – at the state level to determine whether per capita funding in fiscal year (FY) 2020 aligned with need. To measure rates of homelessness, researchers aggregated HUD’s 2020 CoC point-in-time count for sheltered and unsheltered people. They utilized the American Community Survey 5-year estimates for 2016-2020 for median rent and income inequality.
The report found that per capita funding for EFSP and CoC was positively and strongly correlated with homelessness rates. However, the states that received the most per capita funding did not always have the greatest need. For example, Connecticut receives the second most per capita CoC funding ($16.99) but was in the lowest quartile for rates of homelessness. Oregon, on the other hand, received just $10.56 but was in the highest quartile for rates of homelessness. Overall, four of the states with the most funding per capita also have the highest rates of homelessness, median rents, and income inequality. Among the top 10 states in per capita CoC funding, three are in the bottom half of all states in rates of homelessness and median rent. There is a similar pattern for ESG funding and EFSP funding. While some states with high levels of homelessness and income inequality have commensurately high levels of funding per capita, researchers found a mismatch with other states, who are in the top 10 by amount of funding per capita but have the lowest rates of homelessness.
GAO also found geographic patterns in per capita funding for these three programs. For CoC and EFSP funding, states in the Northeast and West tend to receive the highest amount of funding. For ESG, the Northeast and portions of the Midwest tend to receive more funding.
In 2020, the funding formula for the second round of the Emergency Solutions Grants-Coronavirus (ESG-CV) program was changed to include homelessness indicators. Specifically, it added the share of all those who were homeless, unsheltered homeless, at risk for homelessness, and at risk for unsheltered homelessness. Researchers found that this formula change resulted in better targeting of funds to states with larger homeless populations compared to the traditional formula. For example, California, New York, Texas, and Florida – which have the largest homeless populations – received over 50% of funds in the second round, compared to about 34% in the first round. Overall, 12 states received more ESG-CV funding under the new funding formula and 39 states received less.
The full report can be accessed at: https://bit.ly/43h7UbX.