Resources for Understanding Homelessness in NJ
United States Interagency Council on Homelessness: New Jersey Homelessness Statistics
USICH is an independent federal agency within the U.S. executive branch that leads the implementation of the federal strategic plan to prevent and end homelessness. USICH is advised by the heads of its 20 federal member agencies and works across federal, state, and local governments, as well as the private sector, to help communities create partnerships, use resources in the most efficient and effective ways, and employ evidence-based best practices. This brief report provides an overview of the numbers and demographics of people experiencing homelessness in NJ.
National Alliance to End Homelessness: State of Homelessness NJ
The National Alliance to End Homelessness is a United States-based organization addressing the issue of homelessness. The Alliance provides data and research to policymakers and elected officials in order to inform policy debates. This report provides an overview of the demographics and statistics for people experiencing homelessness throughout the country as well as details on trends in homeless assistance and risk indicators.
State of New Jersey HOME-ARP Allocation Plan
The American Rescue Plan of 2021 (ARP), also called the COVID-19 Stimulus Package, provided $5 billion to assist individuals or households who are homeless, at risk of homelessness, and other vulnerable populations, by providing housing, rental assistance, supportive services, and non-congregate shelter, to reduce homelessness and increase housing stability across the country. These grant funds are administered through HUD’s HOME Investment Partnerships Program (HOME) and are known as HOME-ARP funds. Eligible HOMEARP activities include acquisition and development of non-congregate shelter, tenant based rental assistance, supportive services, HOME-ARP rental housing, administration and planning, and nonprofit operating and capacity building assistance. This report outlines the distribution of these funds in NJ and also provides valuable statistics and information on homelessness in NJ in 2022.
New Jersey Renters at Risk of Eviction in 2022
An estimated nearly 75,000 low-income households remain at risk of eviction during 2022. Of these, nearly 38,000 or roughly half are extremely low-income households earning less than 30% of AMI. The total rent arrears of the low-income households at risk during 2022 is projected to be nearly $500 million.
United Way's ALICE Report, NJ Overview
ALICE is an acronym for Asset Limited, Income Constrained, Employed, and represents the growing number of families who are unable to make ends meet. In this report, the United Way quantifies the size of the workforce in our state that is struggling financially and explains the reasons why.
Legal Services of New Jersey 2022 True Poverty Tracker, a Poverty Benchmarks Report Series
This report provides poverty statistics for each of the state's 21 counties, as well as for the state as a whole. It also provides some recommendations for some legislative changes that could help alleviate the growing poverty issues that nearly a third of the population of our state, one of the nation's wealthiest, are dealing with today.
Every year, the National Low Income Housing Coalition reports on the Housing Wage (the hourly wage a full-time worker must earn to afford a modest and safe rental home without spending more than 30 percent of his or her income on housing costs) for all states and counties in the country. The report highlights the gap between what renters earn and what it costs to afford a home at FMR. This year’s report shows NJ stuck as the sixth most expensive place to rent and housing advocates are urging state leaders not to divert funds needs to create affordable homes.
Fair Chance in Housing Act Toolkit
This toolkit explains the 2021 New Jersey Fair Chance in Housing legislation to provide insight to advocates in other jurisdictions working to expand access to housing for people with prior justice system involvement, including significant details on changes to the laws around background checks by landlords for tenants during the housing application process.
This report from January 2020, looks at the large group of high-need Medicaid beneficiaries that could benefit from Tenancy Support Services, and how these services could reduce Medicaid utilization and spending.