Homelessness in New Hanover There is no single definition for homelessness. Each social service agency
may maintain a different definition.
US Department of Housing and Urban Development
definition of homelessness: an individual who lacks a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime
residence; or an individual who has a primary nighttime residence that is: (1) a supervised publicly or
privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living accommodations (including welfare
hotels, congregate shelters, and transitional housing for the mentally ill); (2) an institution that provides
a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or (3) a public or private
place not designed for, or ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings.
McKinney-Vento definition of Child/Youth homelessness:
individuals who lack a fixed, regular and adequate nighttime residence including: (1) children and
youths who are sharing the housing of other persons due to loss of housing, economic hardship, or a
similar reason; are living in motels, hotels, trailer parks or camping grounds due to the lack of alternative
adequate accommodations; are living in emergency or transitional shelters; are abandoned in hospitals; or
are awaiting foster care placement; (2) children and youths who have a primary nighttime residence that
is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for
human beings; (3) children and youths who are living in cars, parks, public spaces, abandoned buildings,
substandard housing, bus or train stations or similar settings; and (4) migratory children.
New Hanover County Schools
0 50 100 150 200 250 300 350 400
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WBM september 2013
Charts created by Kelly Corbett and Cissy Russell
0 100 200 300 400
Other
Awaiting
Foster Care
Doubled up
Hotel/Motel
Shelters
Transitional
Unaccompanied
2012-13
2011-12
2010-11
Living Arrangements Over Three Years
High
Middle
Elementary
Pre-K
Homeless Children By Grade Level