SARAH Point In Time 2015 Report

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POINT IN TIME 2015 REPORT
By:
Eva Littman, Shayna Rosenthal, Hannah Sullivan,
Katelyn Underbrink, Alex VandeStadt
TRINITY UNIVERSITY
As a part of Trinity University
Class on Applied Social Statistics
Under the supervision of Amy Stone Ph.D.
For additional information and questions please contact astone@trinity.edu

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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Figures.............................................................................................................................2
Introduction....................................................................................................................................4
Homeless Adults……….................................................................................................................5
Single Men...................................................................................................................................14
Single Women.............................................................................................................................19
Chronically Homeless Single Adults…........................................................................................25
Families.......................................................................................................................................30
Children.......................................................................................................................................42
Young Adults...............................................................................................................................43
Youth...........................................................................................................................................51
Veterans......................................................................................................................................55
Seniors........................................................................................................................................64
Survey Critiques..........................................................................................................................72
Youth Survey Critiques………………………………………………………………………………..77
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................80

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TABLE OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 Race and Ethnicity of Homeless Adults.......................................................................6
Figure 1.2 Gender of Homeless Adults.........................................................................................7
Figure 1.3 General Demographics for Homeless Households......................................................8
Figure 1.4 Education of Homeless Adults.....................................................................................9
Figure 1.5 Monthly Income of Homeless Adults..........................................................................10
Figure 1.6 Reasons for Homelessness of Adults........................................................................11
Figure 1.7 Top 10 Services Needed by Homeless Adults...........................................................12
Figure 2.1 Overview of Single Men.............................................................................................14
Figure 2.2 Race, Age & Disability of Single Men.........................................................................15
Figure 2.3 Reasons for Homelessness among Single Men........................................................16
Figure 2.4 Employment of Single Men........................................................................................17
Figure 2.5 Top 10 Services Needed by Single Men....................................................................18
Figure 3.1 Demographics for Single Females.............................................................................19
Figure 3.2 Education of Homeless Single Women......................................................................20
Figure 3.3 Disabilities, Jail/Prison and Substance Abuse for Single Women..............................21
Figure 3.4 Reasons for Homelessness Among Single Women...................................................22
Figure 3.5 Top 10 Services Needed by Homeless Single Women..............................................23
Figure 3.6 Domestic Violence by Gender and Family Type........................................................24
Figure 4.1 General Demographics of Chronically Homeless Adults............................................25
Figure 4.2 The Demographics of Chronically Homeless Single Men..........................................27
Figure 4.3 Reasons of Homelessness among Chronically Homeless Single Men.....................28
Figure 4.4 Top 10 Services Needed by Chronically Homeless Single Men................................29
Figure 5.1 Demographics of Families .........................................................................................30
Figure 5.2 Overview of Families..................................................................................................31
Figure 5.3 Reasons for Homelessness Among Families.............................................................32
Figure 5.4 Services Needed/Received by Families.....................................................................33
Figure 5.5 Overview of Single Parent Households......................................................................35
Figure 5.6 Demographics of Single Parents…............................................................................36
Figure 5.7 Reasons of Homelessness for Single Parents...........................................................37
Figure 5.8 Employment of Single Parents...................................................................................38
Figure 5.9 Monthly Income of Single Parents..............................................................................39
Figure 5.10 Services Needed/Received by Single Parent Families............................................40
Figure 6.1 Demographics of Homeless Children.........................................................................42
Figure 7.1 Race of Young Adults (Ages 18-25)...........................................................................43
Figure 7.2 Race for Male Young Adults.......................................................................................44
Figure 7.3 Race for Female Young Adults..................................................................................44
Figure 7.4 Number of Children of Young Adults..........................................................................45
Figure 7.5 Resources Needed/Received for Young Adults with Children...................................46
Figure 7.6 Reasons of Homelessness for Young Adults.............................................................47
Figure 7.7 Monthly Income for Young Adults..............................................................................48
Figure 7.8 Top Ten Services Needed and Received by Young Adults.......................................50
Figure 8.1 Age of Youth (Count)..................................................................................................51
Figure 8.2 Race of Youth (Count)...............................................................................................52
Figure 8.3 Services that Youth Believe SA/Bexar County Should Provide.................................53
Figure 8.4 Behaviors Engaged in By Youth.................................................................................54
Figure 8.5 Last Grade Attended in School By Youth...................................................................54
Figure 9.1 Demographics of Veterans.........................................................................................55
Figure 9.2 Race of Homeless Veterans.......................................................................................56

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Figure 9.3 Education for Homeless Veterans..............................................................................57
Figure 9.4 Shelters for Homeless Veterans.................................................................................58
Figure 9.5 Number of Years Served in the Military......................................................................58
Figure 9.6 Health Issues of Veterans..........................................................................................59
Figure 9.7 Employment of Veterans............................................................................................60
Figure 9.8 Monthly Income of Veterans.......................................................................................61
Figure 9.9 Reasons of Homelessness for Veterans....................................................................62
Figure 9.10 Services Needed/Received by Homeless Veterans.................................................63
Figure 10.1 Race of Seniors........................................................................................................64
Figure 10.2 Education of Homeless Seniors...............................................................................65
Figure 10.3 Health Issues of Homeless Seniors.........................................................................66
Figure 10.4 Shelters for Homeless Seniors.................................................................................67
Figure 10.5 Employment of Homeless Seniors...........................................................................68
Figure 10.6 Monthly Income of Seniors.......................................................................................69
Figure 10.7 Reasons of Homelessness for Seniors....................................................................70
Figure 10.8 Services Needed or Received by Homeless Seniors...............................................71

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INTRODUCTION
Students from Dr. Amy Stone’s course in Applied Social Statistics at Trinity
University partnered with the City of San Antonio and South Alamo Regional Alliance for
the Homeless (SARAH) to help evaluate the demographic characteristics and needs of
individuals and families experiencing homelessness in San Antonio. We participated in
the data collection for the 2015 Point in Time Count and Survey assessment which took
place on January 29th
, 2015 and analyzed the data collected. The Point in Time report
provides demographic information to the City of San Antonio and organizations that
work with the homeless in order to fully assess and provide for the needs of the
homeless population in San Antonio.
This year’s Point in Time Survey gathered information from 1,432 homeless
heads of households, who provided information on 1,722 individuals in total, including
503 children and 18 unaccompanied youth. Our report offers information regarding
demographic characteristics of the homeless population, their reasons for
homelessness, their general needs, and suggestions for improving the homelessness
survey for future analysis. More in-depth analysis is provided on the general homeless
population, single men and woman, families, children, unaccompanied youth, veterans,
and seniors. Information on chronically homeless individuals and families is included
within each of these sections.

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HOMELESS ADULTS
Through the combined efforts of shelters, service sites and volunteers, 1722
people were surveyed in the 2015 SARAH Point-In-Time Survey. Surveys included
1432 households, composed of 1598 adults, and 503 children and 18 unaccompanied
youth. This section provides an overview of all adults who answered the PIT survey and
the information they provided about their household.
The most common person surveyed is a single white man of about 44 years of
age who has been homeless for a year or more with no monthly income. Homeless
adults are mostly above 40 years old and are not living with family. The average age of
an adult experiencing homelessness is 44 years old.
Almost one in three adults surveyed experience chronic homelessness. The most
common time adults spend homeless is about a year. However, the average time adults
spent homeless is 1,036 days.

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Most homeless adults are not white; over 60% of homeless adults are either
Hispanic or non-Hispanic Black. Figure 1.1 gives a visual breakdown for the racial and
ethnic distribution of homeless individuals surveyed.
31.6%
20.5%
7.4%
40.5%
Figure 1.1 Race and Ethnicity of Homeless Adults
White Black Multiracial/Other Hispanic

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Two out of every three homeless adults are men (Figure 1.2) Single men make
up both the majority of homeless adults as well as the majority of unsheltered homeless
adults. One in five homeless adults spent the night without shelter. Figure 1.3 shows
demographic, employment, and shelter status for all homeless adults.
64.8%
33.7%
0.4%
Figure 1.2 Gender of Homeless Adults
Male Female Transgender

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Figure 1.3 General Demographics for Homeless Households
Demographics Cases
(N=1722)
% of Cases
Sex
Male 1115 64.8%
Female 581 33.7%
Transgender 7 0.4%
Race/Ethnicity
Hispanic 684 39.7%
White 534 31.0%
Black 346 20.1%
Multi-Racial/Other 124 7.2%
Employment
Unemployed 798 46.3%
Employed 529 30.7%
Unsheltered Households
Prospect’s Courtyard 198 11.5%
On the Street 180 10.5%
Sheltered Households
Transitional Housing 392 22.8%
Emergency Shelter 332 19.3%
Safe Haven 141* 8.2%*
Other 120 7.0%
Substance Abuse Treatment
Center
86 5.0%
Permanent Supportive Housing 5 0.3%
*Total cases coded exceeds amount of vacancies at Safe Haven

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Most homeless adults have earned a Diploma/GED or higher. A quarter of
homeless adults have not yet earned their high school diploma or GED (23.2%).
However, more than two thirds of homeless adults have earned their diploma, GED or
higher (76.8%). Figure 1.4 below shows educational achievement distribution of
homeless individuals.
0.5%
6.3%
16.4%
37.4%
21.9%
8.5%
8.4%
0.6%
Figure 1.4 Education of Homeless Adults
Never Attended
1st-8th Grade
Some High School
High School/GED
Some College
Technical School/Job
Training
College Grad
Master's Degree and Up

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Income of households experiencing homelessness is generally small with only
one in three of those surveyed reporting an earned income (35%) (Figure 1.5). The
median monthly income of individuals experiencing homelessness is $337.50, but more
than a third of those surveyed report no income whatsoever (35.1%).
35.1%
13.9%
12.5%
19.4%
17.6%
1.4%
Figure 1.5 Monthly Income of Homeless Adults
$0
$1- 300
$301-700
$701- 1,000
$1,001- 3,000
$3,001+

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Almost half of all households experiencing homelessness report unemployment
and job loss as the cause of their homelessness (Figure 1.6). Two in three homeless
individuals are unemployed. The leading reasons for unemployment among homeless
adults are mental health issues (28.3%), not being able to find work (24.3%) and
permanent physical disabilities (20.4%). The median time of unemployment is one year.
One in five homeless adults is employed in some way but often state that their income
cannot afford them a home.
6.4%
10.6%
11.9%
14.1%
17.3%
19.9%
27.8%
44.3%
Release from Prison
Eviction/Foreclosure
Diagnosed Mental Illness
Domestic Violence
Substance Abuse/Addiction
Other
Family/Relationship Issues
Unemployment/Loss of Job
Figure 1.6 Reasons for Homelessness of Adults

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Job training and job placement came in as the top two most needed services.
Job placement is needed by one in three homeless adults and job training is needed by
almost one in four homeless adults. Although dental and job services rank highest in
need, affordable housing and permanent supportive housing have a greater “need gap”,
the differences between those who need and those who receive the services. Figure
1.7 below shows the most needed services.
Lack of health care is concerning when many homeless adults are disabled in
some way. About half of homeless adults lack health care insurance. This lack of health
insurance may compound the challenges of mental and physical disabilities reported by
adults experiencing homelessness. More than a quarter of adults report being
diagnosed with a mental illness (28.6%) and about one in nine homeless individuals
report having been to a state mental hospital. Physical and other disabilities were
reported in over a fifth of those surveyed (22.5%). One in six homeless adults is a U.S.
veteran.
Addictions to drugs and alcohol, as well as rates of incarceration present
significant challenges to adults experiencing homelessness, especially single men.
Although only 5% of homeless adults were, at the time, checked into a substance abuse
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Basic Needs (food and clothing)
Permanent Supportive Housing
Job Training
Food Stamps
Transportation Assistance
Medical Care
Affordable Housing
Job Placement
Dental Care
Figure 1.7 Top 10 Services Needed by Homeless Adults
Needs Receives

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treatment center (see Figure 1.3), rates of addiction are about six times that
percentage. About one in three homeless adults struggle with drug and/or alcohol
addiction (31.2%) and one in four respondents report that they have been in a
drug/alcohol treatment program before (26.9%). Two of every five homeless adults have
been to jail or prison.

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SINGLE MEN
Demographics and Causes of Homelessness
This section provides general demographic information of single men
experiencing homelessness. There are 796 individual men, which is about 46% of all
adults surveyed.
The average homeless single male was from outside San Antonio and homeless
for more than one year (Figure 2.1). About 2 out of 3 graduated from high school or
received some college or job training, and about one fourth has less than a high school
education. About 7 out of 10 single men are sheltered. Of those that are unsheltered,
16% stayed at Prospect Courtyard the night before the survey was conducted.
Figure 2.1 Overview of Single Men
Demographic Characteristics N of Men
(N=796)
% of Single Men
Location
Sheltered 266 68.7%
Unsheltered 143 31.3%
Origin
From San Antonio 312 40.3%
From Outside San Antonio 463 59.7%
Time Homeless
Homeless more than 1 year 474 59.6%
Homeless more than 4 times
in last 3 years
58 7.6%
First time homeless in last 3 years 341 44.9%
Education
Less than High School 130 24.4%
High School/GED 206 38.7%
Some College/Job Training 151 28.4%
College Graduate or Higher 45 8.5%

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The majority of single homeless men are either white or Hispanic. Thirteen
percent of adult men who identify as Hispanic also identify as white. The average age is
48, which is four years older than the mean age of the general adult homeless
population. Almost half of single males are between the ages of 51 and 65, making
them a typically older population (Figure 2.2). Almost half of the single men in this age
range are chronically homeless. About a third of the single male population was
disabled by substance abuse and another third reported having a mental illness.
Figure 2.2 Race, Age & Disability of Single Men
Demographic
Characteristics
N of Men
(N=796)
% of Single Men
Race
White 300 38.0%
Hispanic 292 37.0%
Black 149 18.9%
Multiracial/Other 49 6.1%
Age
19-30 73 9.6%
31-40 133 17.5%
41-50 179 23.6%
51-65 353 46.4%
66-86 22 2.9%
Disabled by:
Substance Abuse 270 35.2%
Mental Illness 253 33.1%
Physical Disability 143 18.7%
Other Disability 82 10.7%
HIV Positive 20 2.6%

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Among the reasons for homelessness, shown in Figure 2.3, almost half of
individual homeless men are homeless because of unemployment or a loss of job.
About one fifth of homeless men are homeless because of family or relationship issues,
with another one fifth homeless due to substance abuse. While about a third of this
population has a mental illness, only about 13% are homeless because of a mental
illness.
5.3%
7.7%
8.0%
13.5%
21.0%
22.7%
49.2%
Domestic Violence
Released from Prison
Mental Illness
Figure 2.3 Reasons for Homelessness among Single Men

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Figure 2.4 shows the current job status of individual homeless men. The
majority of single men are unemployed and do not have any monthly income.
Unemployment among single men either tends to be short term or a more permanent
condition, with about a third of the unemployed men unemployed for six months or less,
and another third unemployed anywhere from a year to five years. Around 90% of single
men who are unemployed are homeless for this reason. Almost a quarter reported
mental health issues as their reason for unemployment, and 18% reported not being
able to find work as their reason. Two-fifths of this population is employed either full-
time, part-time, or as a day laborer. Of those who have an income, the average single
male makes between 260 and 651 dollars a month. Almost half of the income single
men make is either earned income or from social security and social security disability
benefits.
54.6%
18.2%
8.8%
7.3%
6.2%
4.9%
Figure 2.4 Employment of Single Men
Unemployed
Full-Time
Part-Time
Day Labor
Temporary
Retired

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Services Requested by Single Men
Homeless individuals request a variety of services, which are displayed in Figure
2.5 both in numbers and percentages.
Dental care, food stamps, and transportation assistance were needed by almost
two in five homeless single men. About a third of single men receive case
management, and about a quarter receive food stamps and basic needs such as food
and clothing. It is important to note that transportation assistance and dental care have
the greatest difference between the number of people who report receiving these
services compared to the number of people who report needing them; about a quarter
more single men report needing these services over receiving them. A third of the
population of single homeless men report having a mental illness, and about a quarter
of this population reports needing mental health care services.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Finance/Budgeting Class
Legal Aid
Mental Health Care
Job Training
Case Management
Food/Clothing
Medical Care
Food Stamps
Dental Care
Figure 2.5 Top 10 Services Needed by Single Men
Need Receive

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SINGLE WOMEN
Single, childless females make up about 16% of the overall adults (N=268) and a
little under half of the total female adult homeless population. This group is, on average,
three years older than all other homeless adults (47 years old). Racial and ethnic
composition is similar to the overall population of homeless adults, but this group is
slightly less likely to be Hispanic (34.6%) and more likely to be white. Single women are
most likely to stay in an emergency shelter than any other shelter. This group
experiences chronic homelessness at a higher rate than the overall adult population
(40.4%). Figure 3.1 shows the demographic differences between single women and the
average population of homeless adults.
Figure 3.1 Demographics for Single Females
Cases
(N=268)
% of Single
Adult Women
% Difference
from Avg.
Population
Race/Ethnicity
White 107 39.9% +8.9%
Hispanic 91 34.0% -5.7%
Black 50 18.7% -1.4%
Multi-Racial/Other 18 6.8% -0.4%
Employment
Unemployed 179 70.2% +10.0%
Employed 76 29.8% -10.1%
Unsheltered
On the street 18 6.4% -4.1%
Prospect’s Courtyard 34 12.8% +1.3%
Sheltered
Emergency Shelter 84 31.7% +12.4%
Transitional Housing 61 21.9% -0.9%
Safe Haven 33 12.1% +3.9%
Other 23 8.7% +1.7%
Substance Abuse
Treatment Center
17 6.4% +1.4%
Permanent Supportive
Housing
0 0.0% -0.3%

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Single women make less money and are more often unemployed. Their
employment rates are only slightly different than the larger homeless population: 30%
are employed while 70% are unemployed. The median income of single women is half
that of the overall income median, just $175 a month. Single women are less likely to be
working full-time than the total population of homeless individuals. The median time
spent unemployed is almost twice as much as the entire homeless population (689
days) but they are somewhat less likely to have no source of income (52.7%). However,
single adult women are more likely to be unemployed than men and women with
families. Single women as a group are marginally less likely to have graduated high
school (31.8%) and somewhat less likely to graduate from college (9.9%). (Figure 3.2)
0.4%
6.9%
15.0%
31.8%
21.9%
9.9%
9.9%
0.7%
Figure 3.2 Education of Homeless Single Women
Never Attended
1st-8th Grade
Some High School
High School/GED
Some College
Technical School/Job Training
College Grad
Master's Degree and Up

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Single women are more likely to experience mental health issues than any other
group, including single men. Single women are also slightly more likely to have physical
disabilities than men. Substance abuse and incarceration rates are still higher for single
men than single women. (Figure 3.3)
Figure 3.3 Disabilities, Jail/Prison, and Substance Abuse for Single Women
Cases
(N=268)
% of Single
Adult Women
% Different from
Average
Population
Disability
Mental Illness 133 51.0% +15.4%
Physical
Disability
59 22.5% +5.0%
Been to State
Mental Hospital
48 20.4% +4.3%
Other Disability 31 11.8% +1.4%
Jail/Prison
Been to
Jail/Prison
106 44.4% -12.1%
Substance Abuse
Drug Addiction 50 18.7% -0.7%
Alcohol
Addiction
38 14.5% -4.9%
Incarceration more heavily affects men, but single women are more likely to be
incarcerated than women with families. Single women are slightly more likely to have
been incarcerated than women with families (+18%), they are significantly less likely to
have been incarcerated than single men (-26.2%) and men in families (-25.2%). Single
adult women are 18% more likely to have been incarcerated than adult women with
families.
Alcohol addictions in single women are significantly lower than men. Drug
addictions in single childless adult females are somewhat less likely than males as well.
Single adult women are slightly more likely to have been in foster care (14.5%) and
more likely to have some disability (34.3%).
Single adult women are more likely to have a mental illness as well as more likely
to have been to a state mental hospital than single men, men in families, or women in
families. Mental illness in this group is about twice as much as the general population of

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those homeless (56.5%) and this group is somewhat more likely to have been in a state
mental hospital (20.4%). Reasons for homelessness among single women are more
likely to be a result of family/relationship issues and domestic violence. Figure 3.4
shows reasons for homelessness in this subgroup.
5.8%
10.0%
14.7%
15.4%
25.0%
25.5%
30.5%
39.0%
Release from Prison
Substance Abuse/
Addiction
Other
Domestic Violence
Unemployment/Loss of
Job
Figure 3.4 Reasons for Homelessness Among Single Women

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Homeless single women are more likely to struggle with employment, income
and health. This population requires and requests different services than other
subgroups. Notable services needed more by single women include personal finance
and budgeting, legal aid, case management and mental health care. Figure 3.5
demonstrates the top services needed by this group.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Mental Health Care
Case Management
Legal Aid
Personal Finance/Budgeting
Basic Needs (Food and Clothing)
Job Placement
Medical Care
Food Stamps
Dental Care
Figure 3.5 Top 10 Services Needed by Homeless Single Women
Needs Receives

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Domestic violence disproportionately targets women as a group and is slightly
worse for adult women with families. Single women are 20% more likely to report
domestic violence as a factor contributing to their homelessness (n = 67). However,
homeless women with families experience domestic violence slightly more than single
homeless women. Single adult women are 8% more likely to report family/relationship
issues as a factor that contributed to their homelessness. Figure 3.6 below shows more
about domestic violence in men and women by their family status.
25.2%
5.3%
33.3%
6.0%
Females Males
Figure 3.6 Domestic Violence by Gender and Family Type
Single Family

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CHRONICALLY HOMELESS SINGLE ADULTS
To be identified as a chronically homeless individual, one must be a single
homeless adult who has been homeless for either more than a year or more than four
times in the last three years, as well as have a disability. Disabilities included mental
illness, physical disabilities, alcoholism, drug use, and HIV/AIDS. This survey included
540 chronically homeless single adults, which is about a fourth of the surveyed
homeless population. The ages of chronically homeless individuals ranged from 19-78,
with a median age of 51.
Figure 4.1 General Demographics
Demographics Cases
(N=540)
% of Chronically Homeless
Single Adults
Gender
Male 385 71.2%
Female 152 28.1%
Transgender 3 0.6%
Race/Ethnicity
White 218 40.3%
Hispanic 188 34.8%
Black 90 16.6%
Multi-Racial/Other 43 7.9%
Employment Status
Employed 138 28.2%
Shelter Status
Sheltered 347 64.1%
Disabled by:
Alcohol Addiction 178 32.9%
Drug Addiction 172 31.9%
HIV Positive 19 3.5%

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As seen in Figure 4.1, the majority of chronically homeless single adults are
males, and a little less than half of this population is white. Over half of chronically
homeless single adults are unemployed, and about two in five are homeless for this
reason. Almost two thirds of this population is sheltered, with the majority staying in an
emergency shelter or transitional housing the night before the survey. The majority of
chronically homeless single adults are disabled by a mental illness or substance abuse,
and over two thirds have been to jail or prison. Chronically homeless adults are more
likely to be homeless because of a diagnosed mental illness or substance abuse than
the general homeless population.
The top services needed by chronically homeless adults are job training, dental
care, medical care, and transportation assistance. While the majority of chronically
homeless single adults report having a mental illness, only about a third report receiving
mental health care and another third reporting needing mental health care. Job
placement, case management, and food stamps are the top received services for this
population.
Chronically Homeless Single Men
Of the 540 chronically homeless individuals, 3 out of 4 are single men, meaning
that 43% of single men are chronically homeless. As seen in Figure 4.2, a little less
than half of chronically homeless individuals that are male are white and about a third
are Hispanic. This race distribution is representative of the entire chronically homeless
adult population in general.
The majority of chronically homeless single men slept in a sheltered area the
night before the survey, which includes emergency shelters, transitional housing, and
safe haven. Almost two in three are unemployed, and the majority of chronically
homeless single men are disabled by a mental illness. Nearly 75% of chronically
homeless single men have been to jail or prison, which is a significantly higher
percentage than any other homeless subgroup.

27

Figure 4.2 The Demographics of Chronically Homeless Single Men
N of Men
(N=349)
% of Single Men
Race
White 149 42.9%
Hispanic 126 36.3%
Black 56 16.1%
Demographics
Sheltered 233 68.1%
Veterans 88 26.3%
Disabled by:
Alcoholism 137 39.3%
Drugs 116 33.3%
HIV/AIDS 10 2.9%
Jail/Prison
Been to Jail/Prison 221 74.2%

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According to Figure 4.3, the main causes of homelessness among chronically
homeless individuals are unemployment or loss of job. About three quarters of the
chronically homeless single male population are disabled by substance abuse, and
about 30% are homeless because of it. Over half of this population reported having a
mental illness but only about a quarter reported having a diagnosed mental illness as a
cause of homelessness. Over 20% of chronically homeless single men reported “other”
as being their cause of homelessness. Among this category, medical issues, a family
member passing away, and not having or being able to afford a place to live were the
top reported causes of homelessness.
6.7%
7.3%
7.6%
22.9%
24.4%
27.4%
29.3%
44.3%
Domestic Violence
Other
Figure 4.3 Reasons of Homelessness among Chronically
Homeless Single Men

29

The top three services requested by chronically homeless male individuals are
dental care (46%), transportation assistance (45%), and medical care (42%). This is
similar to the needs of the entire homeless adult population. A little over a third of
chronically homeless single men receive job placement services and case
management. However, about a third of this population also list case management as a
service they need as well. About 3 in 10 people receive mental health care, but a little
over 3 in 10 list this as a service needed. Over half of the population of chronically
homeless single men report having a diagnosed mental illness making it an important
needed service. These trends can be seen in Figure 4.4.
0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Finance/Budgeting Class
Legal Aid
Mental Health Care
Case Management
Job Training
Food/Clothing
Food Stamps
Medical Care
Dental Care
Figure 4.4 Top 10 Services Needed by Chronically Homeless
Single Men
Need Receive

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FAMILIES
General Information
According to Figure 5.1, the most common family type is a single parent with
children, while the most common household type is single, meaning they do not have
any children or partners to report living in their household. The “other” category, which
was much less common, mostly consisted of those without children who reported living
in dorm-like situations and therefore were confused about the meaning of the question.
The rest of this section focuses solely on parents with children and adult couples.
Figure 5.1 Demographics
Adults
(N=1382)
% of Adults
Household Type
Single 1040 75.3%
Two Parent with Children 54 3.9%
Single Parent with
Children
213 15.4%
Adult Couple no Children 51 3.7%
Other 24 1.7%
Number of Children in
Family
Children
(N=234)
% of Children
One Child 87 37.2%
Two Children 77 32.9%
Three Children 37 15.8%
Four Children 19 8.1%
Five or more Children 14 6%
Because there is not a question directly asking how many children one has in
their family, I used the number of those who responded to the question pertaining to the
gender of the child in order to establish my results. Many people skipped over some of
the child questions, thus the numbers between each category are different and
therefore skew the results of this answer. Most families have one child (37.2%), and
almost one third of children are in two-child households. Therefore a majority of parents
have two kids or less.

31

Figure 5.2 Overview of Families
Cases
(N=318)
% Families
Location
Sheltered 266 85%
Unsheltered 47 15%
Origin
San Antonio 171 54.6%
Outside of San Antonio 142 45.4%
Time Homeless
Chronically Homeless 62 19.5%
An overwhelming majority of families are sheltered. Of the 15% who are
unsheltered most spent the night at Prospects Courtyard on Haven for Hope’s Campus
with only one family reporting that they live completely unsheltered. Since children are
not able to stay in prospects courtyard we must assume that the adult couples as well
as parents without their children for that night were the ones who responded to staying
at Prospects Courtyard. Most families are from San Antonio.
For those who originated from outside of San Antonio, they are mainly from
within Texas. Only 5% of those from outside of San Antonio are from outside of the
country and have immigrated to the United States. The results of Figure 5.2 may not
pertain to the entire family, however, because this question was asked about the
individual and not about the origin of the entire family itself. We must speculate that the
questions above also pertain (if not loosely) to the rest of the family as well.

32

Figure 5.3 highlights that the main reason for homelessness among families is
unemployment or a loss of job followed by family/relationship issues. Many respondents
were confused about the difference between the response family/relationship issues
and domestic violence and, as a result, many answered yes to both. Substance
addiction, release from prison, or diagnosed mental illness are all less than one tenth of
the causes for homelessness in families individually. Respondents who responded
“other” usually referred to either financial struggles or additional family/relationship
issues.
3.0%
5.0%
10.4%
15.7%
16.8%
25.8%
35.2%
37.2%
Diagnosed mental Illness
Other
Evicted/ Foreclosure
Domestic Violence
Unemployment/Loss of job
Figure 5.3 Reasons for Homelessness Among Families

33

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Job Placement
ESL
Veteren's Benefits
Healthcare (for child)
Mental Health Care (for child)
Other Services
SNAP
WIC
Tutor (for child)
Counseling (for child)
TANF
Case Management
GED or Education Training
Mental Health Care (for adult)
Child Support
Basic Needs
Food Stamps
Legal Aid
Child Care
Personal Finance/Budgeting
Transporation Assitance
Job Training
Medical Care (for adult)
Dental Care
Figure 5.4 Services Needed/Received by Families
Needed Received

34

Over half of respondents need dental care as their top service and yet less than
20% of respondents actually receive dental care. Figure 5.4 shows that medical
services are the most highly needed resource, followed by financial types of assistance
and child related types of assistance. Services requested by more than 15% of families
include mental health care (for the adults), GED or education training and case
management services.
The most popular services that homeless families reported receiving were
healthcare (for child), case management, SNAP, food stamps and job placement. I can
therefore presume that children of homeless families are making great use of social
services available since over 60% of children have healthcare or are making use of
SNAP. This high number of families with case management may be a consequence of
living in transitional housing (around 45% of families) where case management is a
requirement for most, if not all, of these locations.

35

Single Parent Households
Due to the set up of the survey we were unable to account for the other adult in
families who are either adult couples or two parents with children. However, since over
60% of respondents in families report that they live in single parent households, this
section analyzes only single-parent families.
Figure 5.5 Overview of Single Parent Households
Cases
(N=213)
% of Single Parents
Location
Sheltered 203 96.6%
Unsheltered 7 3.4%
Origin
San Antonio 122 58.4
Outside of San Antonio 87 41.6
Time Homeless
One Year or More 92 40.4%
First Time Homeless in
Past 3 Years
131 63%
Chronically Homeless 33 15.4%
Education
1st
-8th
11 5.4%
Some High School 23 11.3%
High School/GED 67 33%
Some College 41 20.2%
Technical School/Job
Training
23 11.3%
College Graduate 16 7.90%
Military
Served in Military 14 7%
Additionally, most of those who are unsheltered report that they stayed in
Prospects Courtyard with only one single parent reporting that they spent the previous
night completely unsheltered. As mentioned in the general families section, children are
unable to stay in Prospects Courtyard so the seven parents who stayed there must
have been separated from their children that night or reported incorrectly. Most of those
who are sheltered live in transitional housing (60%) and emergency shelters (19.5%).
Of those who report being originally from outside of San Antonio, one fifth are from
another state while less than one fifth are from another city inside of Texas. The

36

smallest percent are those from another country with only 12 respondents. Fifteen
percent of single parent families are chronically homeless and less than one tenth of
single parents served in the military. Single parents are much more likely to be
sheltered than all family types are. Only slightly more single parent households are from
San Antonio than other family types and they are only 5% less likely to be chronically
homeless than other family types.
Cases
(N=213)
% of Single Parents
Gender
Male 31 14.6%
Female 181 85.0%
Race
White 30 14.2%
Black 43 20.3%
Hispanic 123 58%
Age
18-25 33 15.5%
26-30 40 18.8%
31-40 78 36.6%
41-50 44 20.7%
51+ 18 8.5%
Disabled by:
Substance Abuse 24 13.6%
Other Disability 16 9%
HIV/AIDS 4 2.3%
The average age of single adult parents is 35, and the most common race is
Hispanic. The majority who answered yes to being Hispanic also answered yes to being
white. Most single parents are female which is completely different from the general
demographics where a majority is male. A majority of families do have health insurance
of some kind for both the single parent and their children. Mental illness is the most
common disability among single parents but the rate is much lower than the general
population’s rate of mental illness.

37

For single parent families, the most common cause of homelessness mirrors that
for all family types. The “other” category includes family issues and elaborates on issues
of domestic violence and family relationship issues. Unemployment/ loss of job is the
most common reason for homelessness for single parents with family/ relationship
issues and domestic violence coming as a close second. Even though there is a 20%
reported rate of diagnosed mental illness within this population, fewer than 5% report
mental illness as the reason for their homelessness. The amount of reported domestic
violence is about two times the general population’s rate that is only about 15%.
Eviction and foreclosure also affect single parent families about 7 percent more than it
affects the general population. Single parents are about one tenth less likely to become
homeless due to substance abuse/addiction than the average homeless population as
well.
1.5%
3.9%
8.3%
15.5%
17.1%
29.8%
35.2%
36.6%
Other
Evicted/Foreclosure
Domestic Violence
Family/Relationship Issue
Figure 5.7 Reasons of Homelessness for Single Parents

38

There is almost a 50/50 split between those who are employed and those who
are unemployed according to Figure 5.8. Around one fourth of single parents are
employed full time and almost one third make between 1,001 and 3,000 dollars a month
for their family. In comparison to the average homeless adult, single parents are about
one fifth less likely to be unemployed. They are also about 10 percent more likely to
make between 700 and 1,000 dollars a month than the average homeless adult and half
as likely to make no income at all.
46.5%
26.0%
21.0%
2.5%
4.0%
Figure 5.8 Employment of Single Parents
Unemployed
Full Time
Part Time
Day Labor
Temporary

39

Figure 5.9 demonstrates that almost one fourth of single parents make no
income whatsoever in order to take care of themselves and their families. It is important
to note that this may not make up the entire income of a family since many children in
these families are of legal age to work and may help support their family. However,
income made by children is not accounted for in the survey.
21%
14%
16%
16%
31%
2%
Figure 5.9 Monthly Income of Single Parents
0
$1-300
$301-700
$701-1000
$1001-3000
$3001+

40

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70%
Job placement
ESL
Veteren's Benefits
Healthcare for Child
Mental Health for Child
Other Services
SNAP
WIC
Tutor for Child
Counseling for Child
Child Support for Child
TANF
Case Management
GED or Education Training
Mental Health for Adult
Basic Needs
Food Stamps
Legal Aid
Child Care
Personal finance/budgeting class
Job Training
Medical Care
Dental Care
Figure 5.10 Services Needed/Received by Single Parent Families
Needed Received

41

Services needed and received by single parents mirror that of the general family
population. Figure 5.10 again portrays dental care as the most needed resource for
single parents. Healthcare and SNAP for children covers over 60% of single parent
family children while less than one tenth report needing these services.
Job placement has a significant need gap, with 40% of families receiving this
service and less than 5% reporting that they still need it. Though medical care covers
over 40% of these single parents, over one third of them still report needing medical
care. The same goes for food stamps because even though over half of this population
report receiving them, still more than one third report needing them. Though these
services are provided at a high rate, there is still a high amount of people who report
needing them, making them an important and high demand service.
There are many services where the need far outweighs the amount received of
the service such as mental health care for adults, job training, transportation assistance,
legal aid and GED or education training. The need gap in mental health care for adults
is because almost one fourth of single parents have a mental illness.
Chronically Homeless Single-parent Families
Of those in single-parent families, only 33 families are chronically homeless.
These families include165 children who are in chronically homeless single-parent
families. Most chronically homeless single parents are Hispanic women between the
age of 30 and 40 years old. The most common reason for homelessness in this
population was unemployment or loss of job, and over half of this population is
unemployed. Fortunately, an overwhelming majority (over 95%) of this population is
sheltered with the most common shelter type being transitional housing.

42

CHILDREN
Figure 6.1 is reported using the main survey and not the youth survey. These
results are what parents of children 0-18+ have reported about their children.
Figure 6.1 shows that over 35 % of children are below 4 years of age, meaning
that a little less than two fifths of homeless children are young and are not yet old
enough to attend public school. Over three fifths of children are under the age of 9, with
the highest percent of children being four years or less. This indicates that there is a
large amount of very young homeless children. There are very few adult children,
meaning those who are 18 years or more. A little less than half of these children are of
Hispanic or Latino descent. Children whose parents identify them as white or black
make up around the same amount of the population. School attendance is extremely
high for those between the ages of 6 through 17 as parents only report two children not
attending school.
Cases % of Children
Age (N=481)
0-4 years 172 35.7%
5-9 115 23.9%
10-12 86 17.9%
13-17 years 89 18.5%
18+ years 19 4.0%
Race (N=496)
Hispanic/Latino 205 41.3%
White 140 28.2%
Black 120 24.2%
Other 31 6.3%
Gender (N= 503)
Female 252 50%
Male 251 50%
School Attendance for
Children ages 6 - 17
(N= 252)
Attends School 250 99.2%
Does Not Attend School 2 .8%

43

YOUNG ADULTS
Nearly 1 out of every 10 homeless adults are young adults. Over 7% of the total
homeless adult population is made up of young adults, which is defined as those who
are between the ages of 18 and 25. This population accounts for 120 of the total
respondents. Nearly 75% of these homeless young adults are sheltered. Unlike in the
larger adult population, over half of young adults experiencing homelessness are
women (58%). This survey included only 1 transgender female to male person.
Similar to the general population, Hispanics and other minority groups make up
the majority of young adults. About half of the young adults are either Hispanic, or a
mixture of Hispanic and other races. In addition to the majority Hispanic population,
nearly a quarter identify as black or some other minority group (Figure 7.1). There are
higher rates of homelessness for black young men and Hispanic young women.
(Figures 7.2 and 7.3).
48%
23%
20%
7%
3%
Figure 7.1 Race of Young Adults (Ages 18-25)
Hispanic
White
Black
Multi-Racial
Other

44

42.6%
25.5%
25.5%
4.3% 2.1%
Figure 7.2 Race for Male Young Adults
Hispanic
White
Black
Multi-Racial
Other
54.29%
20%
15.71%
7.14%
2.86%
Figure 7.3 Race for Female Young Adults
Hispanic
White
Black
Multi-Racial
Other

45

The amount of time these young adults reported being homeless ranged from
only 2 days to upwards of 14 years. Over half of the population report having been
homeless for 6 months or longer. For half of the population this is their first time being
homeless in the past 3 years, while nearly 10% said they have been continuously
homeless for more than a year. An additional 20% reported being homeless for 2 or 3
separate periods of time during the past 3 years. Only 19 of the 120 homeless young
adults are chronically homeless.
Fifty percent of young adults are not only experiencing homelessness at a young
age but also trying to raise a family, more than a third without the aid of a spouse or
partner. One third, or 39 of all young adults, live in families of 2 or more. More than half
of young adult parents have at least one child who is under the age of 2 (Figure 7.4).
Many of the parents have second and third children who are under the age of one.
Nearly one third of parents are single parents. There are far more female single head of
household young adults than there are males.
18.3%
10.8%
3.3%
Figure 7.4 Number of Children of Young Adults
1 child
2 children
3 children

46

While many parents report receiving a wide variety of services already, there are
still many services/resources that parents say they still need for their children. While
there are relatively high rates of young adults who are receiving services like healthcare
and SNAP, there are still more than a third of parents who said they do not currently
receive but need TANF. Additionally 1 in 5 report needing WIC and counseling for their
children. The one service that most parents said they already received and only a very
few said they still needed was healthcare, with only 7% needing it (Figure 7.5).
36%
20%
18%
17%
14%
8%
8%
7%
5%
46%
23%
17%
76%
5%
8%
76%
TANF
WIC
Counseling
Child Support
SNAP
TUTOR
Mental Health
Services
Healthcare
Figure 7.5 Resources Needed/Received for Young Adults with
Children
Receives (%) Needs (%)

47

For most young adults the cause of homelessness is either family/relationship
issues or unemployment or a loss of job. Nearly half of young adults listed
family/relationship issues as one of the reasons they were currently homeless. In
addition, 17% said one of the reasons was because of domestic violence that for most
had occurred less than a month ago. (Figure 7.6)
Another cause of homelessness and unemployment among young adults is
being released from prison. Nearly one third of young adults said they had been to jail
or prison before; more than half of those adults had been homeless before going to jail
or prison and most had a place to stay after their release. Of young adults, 1 in 5 have
been in the foster care system. Of those who have been in the foster care system, less
than 15% were homeless before entering the system and nearly 80% had somewhere
to stay once released.
When looking closer at unemployment/loss of job as being a reason for
homelessness, half of the young adults report being unemployed with an additional 11%
saying they only work part time, temporary or as a day laborer. The rate of young adults
unemployed is slightly lower than the overall rate of unemployment, because young
adults have a lower rate of physical disabilities than the general population.
45%
35%
24%
17%
11%
10%
2%
1%
Other
Domestic Violence
Evicted/Foreclosure
Released From Prison
Figure 7.6 Reasons of Homelessness for Young Adults

48

Lack of a basic education does not seem to be one of the major causes of
homelessness. More than one third of the young adults who answered this question
said they have a high school diploma/ GED or some college. Only 14% report having
only some high school or less.
Overall, more than half of the young adults make a monthly income. Of those that
reported an income, over 10% of them report making between 701 and 1,000 dollars
each month (Figure 7.7). The source of income for the young adults includes both
earned income and revenue from child support and disability. The breakdown of income
for young adults matches the general population of homeless individuals.
There are much lower rates of disability and substance abuse among young
adults than there are in the larger homeless population. Within the young adult
population only 17% say that they have been medically diagnosed with alcohol or drug
abuse problems. However, nearly 24% of young adults have been medically diagnosed
22.5%
8.3%
6.7%
13.3%
7.5%
Figure 7.7 Monthly Income for Young Adults
$0
$1-300
$301-700
$701-1000
$1001-3000

49

with a mental illness. There is no significant difference between rates of mental illness
between males and females.
Many of the respondents report a need to receive additional resources. There are
large differences between the percent of young adults who need services and those
who already receive them. Though for some number we see a fairly large percent of
young adults already receiving the service, like with food stamps, there is still a third of
the population who need this service. For some of the services there is a larger need
gap; for example over half of young adults need job placement and only about 10%
currently receive it. The top three services young adults need are job placement, dental
care, and job training. (Figure 7.8) Though many people report neither needing nor
receiving the various services there is still a need to provide many of the services to
more young adults.

50

54%
48%
44%
38%
37%
33%
31%
26%
23%
23%
9%
14%
7%
6%
9%
46%
18%
29%
8%
4%
Job Placement
Dental Care
Job Training
Transporta?on Assistance
Personal Finance/
Budge?ng Class
Food Stamps
Child Care
Basic Needs (Food/
Clothing)
Mental Health Care
Legal Aid
Figure 7.8 Top Ten Services Needed and Received by Young
Adults
Needs (%) Receives (%)

51

YOUTH
Unaccompanied youth are a challenging to capture and vulnerable population
that the PIT survey tried to count this year. These youth are under the age of 18 and
living apart from their family. Unfortunately, of the nearly 40 youth surveys filled out,
only 18 of them qualify as both homeless and a youth (under age of 18). Many of the
youth who were surveyed were not considered homeless because they reported
sleeping at home last night. A majority of the youth surveyed are 17 years old. Out of all
of the youth, there are 6 who are 14 years old. (Figure 8.1) Of all youth, nearly 20% are
parents with at least one child. Most of these children are under the age of one. Several
girls who report not having any children also report being currently pregnant.
3
3
41
7
Figure 8.1 Age of Youth (Count)
13 years old
14 years old
15 years old
16 years old
17 years old

52

A majority of the youth identify as racial minorities. More than half of the youth
are Hispanic while only 2 are black with an additional 4 being multi-racial or other.
(Figure 8.2)
Majority of the youth report having run away from home at least once for reasons
like “ hated it there.” Nearly half of the youth said that they have run away from home
before, and one third of those said that in the past year they have run away twice. In
addition 2 of the youth reported having run away more than 3 times in the past year.
12
2
3
1
Figure 8.2 Race of Youth (Count)
Hispanic
Black
Multi-Racial
Other

53

Many of the youth, much like the young adults, believe that more services should
be provided by either San Antonio or Bexar County. The most common answer is that
job training/placement programs should be provided (50%). All of the remaining
services that were asked about (excluding other services) had a greater than 30%
response rate saying that they should be provided by the city or county (Figure 8.3).
50%
39% 39%
33%
11%
Job Training/
Placement
Programs
Food and Clothing Emergency Shelter Medical and Dental
Care
Other Services
Figure 8.3 Services that Youth Believe SA/Bexar County Should
Provide

54

Many of the youth report having engaged in a range of behaviors involving drugs
and other illegal activities. Nearly half report engaging in smoking weed. Several youth
report smoking, drinking, and having sex. (Figure 8.4)
Figure 8.4 Behaviors Engaged in By Youth
Cases (N=18) % of Youth
Drinking 4 22%
Smoking 5 28%
Sexually Active 4 22%
Smoke Weed 8 44%
Use non-Prescribed Prescription Drugs 2 11%
Use Ecstasy 2 11%
Most of the youth report currently attending school and many of them who do not
currently attend school said they would like to return to school. More than 90% of youth
who answered this question reported currently attending school. Of those who either
dropped out of school or are currently attending, 3 said the last grade they were in was
6th
grade. (Figure 8.5)
3
2 2
1
6th 7th 9th 11th
Grade
Figure 8.5 Last Grade Attended in School by Youth

55

VETERANS
Overview of Veterans
This section provides general demographic information on veterans experiencing
homelessness. Out of the 1722 adults in the survey, 265 of them are veterans. Men
makeup the majority of veterans and only 26 veterans are female. Single men are the
majority of the homeless veteran population and 27% of all single men experiencing
homelessness are veterans. Twenty two male veterans are part of a family. Most
veterans were honorably discharged and receive benefits.
Figure 9.1 Demographics of Veterans
Demographics Veterans
(N=265)
% of Veterans
Age
18-24 2 .8%
25-40 42 15.8%
41-59 154 58.1%
60+ 56 21.1%
Gender
Male 237 90.1%
Female 26 9.9%
The majority of homeless veterans are middle-aged. As seen in Figure 9.1, a
small portion of the veteran population (56) is seniors, ages sixty and up. The mean age
of veterans is about 51 years old. The median age of veterans is 54 years old. Seniors
make up 21.1% of the homeless veteran population. The veterans in their early forties
likely participated in the Iraq and Afghanistan war, whereas the senior veterans were in
the Vietnam War. The female veterans are younger than male veterans. Only three
female veterans are seniors. There is little change in the number of female and male
veterans that are homeless between 2014 and 2015.

56

Homeless veterans are mainly white (Figure 9.2) but are more likely to identify
as Hispanic or Black than general homeless single adults. Almost half of homeless
veterans are Hispanic or Black.
41.5%
24.7%
21.1%
12.7%
Figure 9.2 Race of Homeless Veterans
White
Hispanic
Black
Other/Multi-Racial

57

Homeless veterans are generally well educated. Over three quarters of homeless
veterans have a high school degree or more. Veterans who were honorably discharged
received a higher education than those dishonorably discharged. Homeless veterans
who were dishonorably discharged mainly earned a high school degree or GED. The
majority of homeless veterans who were honorably discharged earned a high school
degree and had some college or job training.
4.9%
31.3%
38.1%
15.5%
Figure 9.3 Education for Homeless Veterans
Through HS
HS Diploma/GED
Some College
College Graduate or
More

58

Figure 9.4 Shelters for Homeless Veterans
Veterans (n=265) % of Veterans
Other 32 12.4%
Substance Abuse Center 19 7.3%
Safe Haven 12 5.3%
The majority of homeless veterans are sheltered, and of those who are sheltered
many stay at transitional housing. Less than a quarter of veterans are unsheltered.
Almost half (48.2%) of all senior veterans find shelter at transitional housing. Only 9 out
of the 56 senior veterans are unsheltered. Thirteen veterans have been homeless four
or more periods in the past three years. Fifty eight homeless veterans, or 21.9% of the
homeless veteran population, have been continuously homeless for more than one
year. More than a third of homeless veterans (111 veterans) are chronically homeless.
Chronically homeless veterans are one fifth of the chronically homeless population.
Figure 9.5 Number of Years Served in the Military
Years Veterans (n=265) % of Veterans
<1 9 3.4%
1-5 103 38.9%
6-10 43 16.2%
11+ 110 41.5%
Over a third of homeless veterans have served in the military between one and
five years (Figure 9.5). More than a third of homeless veterans have been in the service
for more than a decade. Almost half (48.2%) of senior veterans have served between
one and five years. Most veterans were honorably discharged and receive benefits.

59

Figure 9.6 Health Issues of Veterans
Veterans (n=265) % of Veterans
HIV/AIDS 6 2.3%
Mental illness is the main health issue among homeless veterans (Figure 9.6). A
quarter of veterans have a physical disability, making this a more prevalent health issue
among veterans than the average population of homeless adults. About one in five
veterans have an alcohol or drug addiction. Thirty two of the 265 homeless veterans
have a medical diagnosis of a different disability.

60

Half of the homeless veteran population and almost half of the senior veteran
population are unemployed. Only 20% of homeless veterans have a full time job.
Twelve of the 26 female veterans are unemployed. About a quarter of senior veterans
are retired with less than one in five having full time employment. Unemployment is the
main problem and cause of homelessness for veterans.
4.2%
7.6%
8.9%
9.3%
19.1%
50.8%
Day Labor
Retired
Part Time
Temporary
Full Time
Unemployed
Figure 9.7 Employment of Veterans

61

The average monthly income for veterans is $936, and the median monthly
income is $600. A third of senior homeless veterans earn more than a thousand dollars
a month. Most of the monthly income senior homeless veterans receive is from social
security and social security disability benefits. In comparison, most of the monthly
income young veterans receive is from earned income. Almost a third of young
homeless veterans have no monthly income. Less than 20% of young homeless
veterans receive between one thousand and three thousand dollars. For both young
and senior veterans, those who are sheltered receive more income than those who are
unsheltered. Senior homeless veterans who receive VA benefits are ten times more
likely to earn higher income than senior veterans who do not receive VA benefits. There
is very little difference in monthly income between young homeless veterans who
receive VA benefits and those who do not. Almost a quarter of homeless veterans earn
no monthly income, while over a third of single homeless men earn no monthly income.
24.6%
16.4%
11.8%
19.0%
22.6%
5.6%
Figure 9.8 Monthly Income of Veterans
$0
$1-300
$301-700
$701-1000
$1001-3000
$3001+

62

The most reported reasons of homelessness for veterans are unemployment and
family/relationship issues. (Figure 9.9) Unemployment remains the main cause of
homelessness for young and senior veterans. The other causes for homelessness for
veterans were mainly a medical condition or disability. Overall, there is very little
difference in reasons of homelessness between veterans and homeless single men.
Job placement is the most reported service needed by veterans at 40.6%. The
top five services needed by homeless veterans are job placement, dental care,
transportation assistance, job training, and food stamps (Figure 9.10). Further analysis
needs to be conducted to know what other services homeless veterans need. Homeless
veterans feel they need to receive more job training in order to gain better skills and
qualifications for employment. Veteran’s benefits are well received but veterans identify
it as needed service as well. This is also the case for mental health care, case
management, medical care, basic needs, and ESL. Dental care is both highly received
and needed by homeless veterans. The top five services received by homeless
veterans are veteran’s benefits, case management, basic needs, medical care, and
dental care. Although one in three veterans is diagnosed with a mental illness, mental
health care is number twelve out of the sixteen services needed services.
43.9%
20.8%
18.9%
12.1%
11.7%
7.2%
5.7%
3%Other
Domestic Violence
Prison
Mental Illness
Unemployment
Figure 9.9 Reasons of Homelessness for Veterans

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
ESL
Child Care
Others
GED/Education Training
Mental Health Care
Personal Finance
Medical Care
Case Management
Legal Aid
Basic Needs
Veterans Benefits
Food Stamps
Job Training
Dental Care
Job Placement
Figure 9.10 Services Needed/Received by Homeless Veterans
Need
Receive

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SENIORS
Overview of Seniors
This section of the report covers the senior homeless population. Of the 1722
adults in the survey, 182 of them are sixty years or older. Most homeless seniors are
male and only 40 women are seniors, which is about 22% of the senior homeless
population. There is one respondent who considers themselves a transgender male to
female person. Almost a third of seniors previously served in the military. Homeless
seniors are mainly White, as seen in Figure 10.1.
Figure 10.1 Race of Seniors
31.3%
39%
19.8%
6.6%
White
Hispanic
Black
Other/Multi-
Racial

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The majority of homeless seniors have more than a high school degree. (Figure
10.2) Most female homeless seniors received some college education, while male
homeless seniors mainly received a high school degree or GED. About one in five
homeless seniors received less education than a high school degree. The majority of
homeless senior veterans received either a high school degree or GED or some college
education. Twenty four homeless seniors did not report their education level.
19.6%
31.6%
33.5%
15.2%
Figure 10.2 Education of Homeless Seniors
Through HS
HS Diploma/GED
Some College
College Graduate or
More

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Figure 10.3 Health Issues of Homeless Seniors
Seniors (n=182) % of Seniors
HIV/AIDS 5 3.0%
Most homeless seniors experience mental illness and physical disability, which is
not uncommon due to their age (Figure 10.3). A higher percentage of female seniors
have a mental illness than male seniors. A quarter of male homeless seniors have a
drug addiction. Twenty-two male homeless seniors have an alcohol addiction while 5
female seniors are addicted to alcohol. A higher percentage of female seniors than male
seniors have a physical disability. Twenty homeless male seniors and 4 female seniors
have some sort of other disability not listed above. Seniors who have previously been in
the military have a higher percentage of physical disabilities than homeless seniors who
have not been in the military. Overall, seniors seem to experience more physical
disabilities than the general homeless population.

67

Figure 10.4 Shelters for Homeless Seniors
Seniors (n=182) % of Seniors
Safe Haven 25 14.8%
Other 17 10.1%
Substance Abuse Center 4 2.4%
Permanent Supportive
Housing
1 .6%
As shown in Figure 10.4, three quarters of homeless seniors are sheltered. The
homeless seniors mainly find shelter in transitional. Thirty seven percent of homeless
seniors have been continuously homeless for more than one year. This percentage is
the same for both male and female homeless seniors. Eighty seven seniors are
chronically homeless. Chronically homeless seniors mainly find shelter in transitional
housing. Seniors are 16.5% of the chronically homeless population.

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As seen in Figure 10.5, over half of the homeless senior population is
unemployed, and less than a quarter are employed. Despite most of the homeless
senior population being retirement age, less than one in five are retired and most
seniors are seeking employment. There is little difference in the employment rates of
male and female homeless seniors.
1.9%
3.8%
8.3%
10.2%
19.1%
56.7%
Day Labor
Temporary
Part Time
Full Time
Retired
Unemployed
Figure 10.5 Employment of Homeless Seniors

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Overall, homeless male seniors earn more monthly income than homeless
female seniors. (Figure 10.6) More male seniors earn close to one thousand dollars, a
higher monthly income than most female seniors earn. Homeless female seniors are
more likely to earn no monthly income than male seniors. The average amount earned
per month by homeless seniors is $704 .The majority of monthly income homeless
seniors receive is from social security and social security disability benefits. The
homeless seniors who have at least a high school diploma or GED earn more monthly
income than the homeless seniors who have less education. Sheltered homeless
seniors earn more monthly income than unsheltered homeless seniors, the majority of
whom earn no monthly income.
31.9%
9.4%
9.4%
27.5%
21.0%
0.7%
Figure 10.6 Monthly Income of Seniors
$0
$1-300
$301-700
$701-1000
$1001-3000
$3001+

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The most reported reasons of homelessness for seniors are unemployment and
family and relationship issues. (Figure 10.7) With 56.7% of the homeless senior
population unemployed, it is the main reason why they are unable to afford housing and
basic needs. The causes of homelessness in the “other” category are made up of
reasons such as being unable to afford housing and having health conditions/physical
disabilities. One in five seniors reported “other” as their reason for being homeless.
Twenty percent of homeless female seniors said domestic violence is the reason why
they are homeless.
Figure 10.8 displays the services needed or received by homeless seniors. The
top 5 needed services, in order of most needed, are dental care, transportation
assistance, job placement, food stamps, and medical care. These desired services are
expected due to health needs and care of homeless seniors. The top 5 received
services by homeless seniors, in order of most received, are case management,
medical care, food stamps, basic needs, and dental care. Food stamps are shown to be
an equally desired need and received service for seniors, as are veterans benefits.
About one in three seniors have a mental illness, but it is not one of the top five received
services. Many seniors have a physical disability, and this is seen in how many receive
medical care as a service.
7.5%
8.7%
11.2%
11.2%
21.7%
24.2%
41%
Prison
Domestic Violence
Mental Illness
Evicted/Foreclosure
Other
Unemployment
Figure 10.7 Reasons of Homelessness for Seniors

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0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50%
Child Care
ESL
Others
GED/Education Training
Veterans Benefits
Personal Finance
Mental Health Care
Legal Aid
Case Management
Basic Needs
Job Training
Medical Care
Food Stamps
Job Placement
Dental Care
Figure 10.8 Services Needed or Received by Homeless Seniors
Need Receive

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SURVEY CRITIQUES
This section gives an overview of suggestions to modify or change in the survey
for future years. These critiques and possible suggestions will aid in making the surveys
both less confusing for the survey taker and for the surveyor. Additionally, the critiques
should improve the overall accuracy of the data collected as well as increase the ease
of analyzing the data. The following questions are the main critiques our group had of
the survey.
Question 9
The first suggestion of many for this question is to change the school variable to
be less confusing for the survey taker, the surveyor and the analyzers of the data. Many
times people were confused whether this question was asking for the name of the
school, the grade of the student in school or whether they were in school or not. Many
also answered this question for children who were not over the age of 6 even though
the question states it should only be answered for those over the age of 6.
The second suggestion is to include room for the second adult in the household
and vital information about them. This made analysis of two-parent families and adult
couple households difficult since we could not account for the second person in the

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household, and therefore were unable to make accurate analysis or conclusions about
two adult households. It discounts an entire person by avoiding questions about the
second adult as well as makes analysis difficult if not impossible to do on families.
These questions should include the age, race and gender of the second adult, along
with questions about whether or not the second adult is a veteran or has any disabilities
or substance abuse issues.
The third suggestion for this question is to ask women if they are currently
pregnant. Many women could have possibly been pregnant and yet were unable to
state that they were due to there not being a question about it. In not asking this
question we have missed an entire population of those who are both homeless and
pregnant. It could have also skewed results when people were answering for their
children.
Our last suggestion for this question is to make sure people know if they are
answering for themselves individually or for their household in total. This made
answering questions such as income, resources needed/received and reasons for
homelessness very confusing because survey takers did not know if they were being
questioned about themselves as individuals or for the whole family. (Example: total
family income vs. individuals income). Make sure that this is made clear when they
should answer for their household or answer for themselves as individuals so the end
results are not based off of two differing variables which skews the data.
Question 12

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The phrasing of this question is confusing to many of those who took the survey
since they had to think about what it meant before answering. Often times this question
could be offensive to the person taking the survey since it implicitly assumes the
dishonorable category of them first. Many times when questions were difficult to answer
people would just skip them and it would not provide accurate results. Change to “what
was the status of your discharge” with options for “honorably discharged” and
“dishonorably discharged” and “don’t know/refused.”
Question 14 and 15
This question was also confusing to the surveyors and survey takers because
they were confused whether it was asking for how long they were homeless this time or
how long they were homeless in general. Many survey takers answered this question in
terms of how long they were homeless over the span of their entire life which greatly
skews results towards longer times homeless. Instead possibly state “this time” at the
end of the question.
This ties in with question 15 which should be changed to “Think back to the last
three years. How many times have you been homeless in the past three years?” with
less confusing and more orderly close-ended responses. The options for this question
often times confused people, especially the order that the selectable options were

75

presented in. Often times, people would check the first option without even looking at
the other options since they hear “first time” and believe that is their status. It is
important to change these two questions because these two variables are what we use
to determine if someone is chronically homeless or not. If the results are skewed due to
the survey takers confusion over the question, we will not be able to determine chronic
homelessness accurately.
Question 17
This question should be deleted since it did not give us reliable information due to the
phrasing and the open-ended nature of the question. Many times, the survey takers
would answer “my car brought me to San Antonio” or “I was born here” or “my parents
took me here”. Many were confused as to whether this question meant “why did I come
to San Antonio” or “what mode of transportation brought me to san Antonio” or “who
brought me to San Antonio”. If this question is to remain, it must be rephrased to avoid
confusion and it must be a closed ended question with options for people to choose
from instead of being an open ended question.
Question 24
Often times when survey takers were answering this question they were confused about
what the definition or meaning of “unemployed” meant since many had odd or
infrequent jobs or contract labor. Many of them as well, instead of putting how long they

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were unemployed this time, they put how long they have been unemployed over the
course of their lives. This greatly skews results since some answers are quite large and
others are quite small. This question makes the data for time unemployed highly
inaccurate.
Question 2, 14, 24 and future time variable questions
The last survey critique has to do with standardizing the time variables. Having different
time variables throughout the survey slows down the survey and makes inputting time
variables more confusing. For the time unemployed question, there is not a days
variable for people to report how many days they have been unemployed or without a
job.
Overall, this survey does require a bit of work in order to more accurately capture
the homeless population, their daily lives and their needs. The last suggestion we have
is to review the survey in its entirety in order to make sure that there is nothing that
could potentially be confusing or provide inaccurate results. Since this survey requires a
high volume of volunteers to execute, it must be made more user friendly for these
volunteers so that they can more accurately question the survey takers.

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In the demographic section of the youth survey, if the overall format of the survey
was as similar to the general survey as possible it would make analysis between the
two simpler. This could include the same questions for both surveys where applicable.
By having questions match on both surveys, it would allow there to be more comparison
between the two surveys when trying to gather the same information.
Questions 11-13 were confusing for respondents. It seemed as though many of the
youth filled out the survey themselves and these questions were particularly confusing
for them. There seemed to be some confusion about actually skipping to question 14 as
instructed. Instead, many times the youth would put their grade level that they were
currently in. Knowing their current grade could be beneficial but the question should be
rephrased to avoid any confusion on the survey takers behalf.

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For question 14 and 15, several respondents said they did not currently have
children but were currently pregnant. There was no option for this on the survey so
many of them wrote “currently pregnant” off to the side. However, this greatly reduced
the amount of pregnancies reported by youth which is a vital statistic in understanding
homeless youth’s lives.
The survey as a whole should be more comprehensive as well as ask more
questions about the services needed by the youth. There were also no questions about
reason for homelessness of the youth other than running away. Additionally, due to the
high percent of LGBT homeless youth there should be questions about sexual
orientation included in this survey.

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CONCLUSIONS
• The Point-In-Time survey included 1598 adults, 517 children and 23
unaccompanied youth.
• Homeless individuals are largely Hispanic. However, the majority of single
households and chronically homeless are white.
• One in 10 homeless adults spends the night without shelter. Most of these
unsheltered adults are single men.
• Two in three homeless adults are unemployed. One in three homeless adults
report no income whatsoever.
• Unemployment/loss of job is the most common reason for homelessness in
adults.
• Job training and job placement are the most demanded services by homeless
adults
• Nearly one third of homeless adults are also considered chronically homeless.
Single Men:
• The majority of single men are either white or Hispanic, and a little less than half
are above the age of 50, making this an older population.
• The average homeless single male is from outside San Antonio and homeless for
more than one year.
• About a third of the single homeless male population report having a mental
illness, but only 13% are homeless because of a mental illness.
• Almost half of individual homeless men are homeless because of unemployment
or a loss of job, and over half do not have any monthly income.
• Dental care, food stamps, and transportation assistance are the top three
services needed by single homeless men.
• The survey included 464 chronically homeless individuals, and 3 out of 4 are
single men, meaning 43% of single men are chronically homeless.
• About 2 in 5 chronically homeless single men are white.
• Three out of 5 of the chronically homeless are unemployed and over half of them
are disabled by a mental illness.

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• The two main causes of homelessness among chronically homeless individuals
are unemployment and substance abuse.
• The top three services requested by chronically homeless single men are dental
care, transportation assistance, and medical care.
Single Women:
• Single women include 268 adults, or 16% of the total homeless population.
• This group is more likely to be white and several years older than the general
population.
• They make about half as much money than the general population, are more
likely to be unemployed and they are more likely to experience chronic
homelessness.
• Single women stay at emergency shelters more often and one in five single
women reported experiencing domestic violence.
• Half of single women have a mental illness and one in five have been in a state
mental hospital. Two in five single women have been incarcerated.
Families:
• In total, there are 318 adult families living in San Antonio.
• Families in general are mainly comprised of single parents with children who are
sheltered and have one child.
• 19.5% of homeless families are chronically homeless.
• Main reasons for homelessness in families include unemployment/loss of job and
family/relationship issues.
• Single parent families are mainly 31-40 year old Hispanic women with a high
school diploma/GED and are sheltered in transitional housing.
• 15% of single parents are chronically homeless.
• A little less than half of single parents are unemployed, around one fourth are
employed full time, and the last fourth is comprised of part time, day laborer an
temporary job statuses.

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• Both single parent families and general families are very similar in their
demographics and services needed/received.
• These categories also greatly mirror the rest of the population except in terms of
jail and prison, and services needed for children.
• Only two children between the ages of 6-17 report not attending school.
• There are an equal amount of boys and girls among homeless children.
• Most Children are sheltered and many are Hispanic and aged between the years
of 0-4.
• Due to the setup of the survey it was difficult to account for two parent families
and adult couple families despite the fact that they make up a large portion of
those who answered.
Young Adult:
• Nearly half of the young adult population (120 individuals) is made up of
Hispanics (48%).
• The top 3 resources needed for young adults are job placement (54%), job
training (44%), and dental care (48%).
• Unemployment/loss of job (35%) and family/relationship (45%) issues make up
the top two reasons that young adults site for their reason for being homeless.
Youth:
• Majority of youth are 17 years old (7 individuals).
• Half of youth believe that job training/ placement programs should be offered by
SA/Bexar County.
• Most youth currently attend school.
Veteran:
• The majority of homeless veterans are single males, white, and between the
ages of 41 and 59
• Most veterans were honorably discharged and receive benefits.

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• Over three quarters of homeless veterans have high school degree or more.
Veterans who were honorably discharged received a higher education than those
dishonorably discharged
• Almost a third of veterans have substance abuse and mental illness health
problems
• Chronically homeless veterans are one fifth of the chronically homeless
population.
• More than a third of homeless veterans are chronically homeless
• The majority of homeless veterans are sheltered, mainly in transitional housing
• Half of veterans are unemployed, and it is their main reason for being homeless
• For the veterans who are employed, their monthly income is mainly from earned
income
• The top five services needed by homeless veterans are job placement, dental
care, transportation assistance, job training, and food stamps
• The top five services received by homeless veterans are veterans benefits, case
management, basic needs, medical care, and dental care
Senior:
• The majority of seniors are single white males in their early sixties
• Three quarters of seniors have a high school degree or higher
• Almost a third of seniors have a physical disability and a mental illness
• Seniors are 16.5% of the chronically homeless population
• Almost half of homeless seniors are chronically homeless
• The majority of seniors are sheltered and in transitional housing
• Over half of seniors are unemployed, and it is their main reason for being
homeless
• About a third of seniors have no monthly income. If they do receive income, their
main source comes from social security benefits
• The top 5 needed services, in order of most needed, are dental care,
transportation assistance, job placement, food stamps, and medical care

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• The top 5 received services by homeless seniors, in order of most received, are
case management, medical care, food stamps, basic needs, and dental care

SARAH Point In Time 2015 Report

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