The programs authorized in McKinney-Vento include the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Homeless Assistance Grants, the Department of Labor (DOL) Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Grants for the Benefit of Homeless Individuals and Health Care for the Homeless, and the Department of Education (ED) Education for Homeless Children and Youths program. This report discusses the definitions of homelessness used by targeted federal homeless programs. These include those programs listed above, as well as others that Congress has created since the enactment of McKinney-Vento. Defining Homelessness: Who Is Served

There is no single federal definition of what it means to be homeless, and definitions among federal programs that serve homeless individuals may vary to some degree. Original McKinney-Vento Act Definition of Homelessness

The definition of "homeless individual" in Section 103 of McKinney-Vento remained the same for years:
[a]n individual who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence; and a person who has a nighttime residence that is (a) 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); (b) an institution that provides a temporary residence for individuals intended to be institutionalized; or (c) a public or private place not designed for, nor ordinarily used as, a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings. So in its regulations, HUD listed seven federal programs as those under which youth or families with children can be defined as homeless: the Runaway and Homeless Youth program; Head Start; the Violence Against Women Act; the Health Care for the Homeless program; the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP); the Women, Infants, and Children nutrition program; and the McKinney-Vento Education for Children and Youths program. §§11331-11352) The Emergency Food and Shelter program, the oldest federal program serving all homeless populations, was established in 1983 and is administered by the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in the Department of Homeland Security. Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness (PATH)

(42 U.S.C. 100-77 ). The grants, administered by HUD, fund housing and services for homeless persons. Grantees under the RHS program may use funds to assist people who are experiencing homelessness in many of the same ways as the CoC program. §1437f(o)(19)) HUD-VASH is a joint HUD and VA initiative that provides specially designated Section 8 rental assistance vouchers to homeless veterans while the VA provides supportive services. The VA calls the program Supportive Services for Veteran Families. Veterans are eligible if they are receiving care in the Domiciliary Care for Homeless Veterans program, the Compensated Work Therapy Transitional Housing program, Community Residential Care Facilities, or a Grant and Per Diem program. The Department of Labor makes funds available through its Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program for local communities that organize Stand Downs for Homeless Veterans. Permanent supportive housing is generally seen as a solution to ending chronic homelessness. The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness Federal Strategic Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness

The HEARTH Act, enacted on May 20, 2009 as part of the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act ( P.L. Numbers of People Experiencing Homelessness

In the years since USICH and the VA announced efforts to end homelessness, there have been reductions in the overall number of people experiencing homelessness according to HUD's point-in-time counts, as well as in specific populations—people in families with children, veterans, and chronically homeless individuals.
The federal government administers a number of programs, through multiple federal agencies, that are targeted to assisting people who are experiencing homelessness by providing housing, services, and supports. Some programs target specific populations, such as veterans and youth, while others serve all people who are homeless. Available assistance may also depend on how programs define "homelessness."
There is no single federal definition of homelessness. A number of programs, including those overseen by the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Veterans Affairs (VA), Homeland Security (DHS), and Labor (DOL), use the definition enacted as part of the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act (P.L. 100-77), as amended. The McKinney-Vento definition largely considers someone to be homeless if they are living in a shelter, are sleeping in a place not meant to be used as a sleeping accommodation (such as on the street or in an abandoned building), or will imminently lose their housing. Definitions for several other programs, such as the Department of Education (ED), are broader, and may consider someone living in a precarious or temporary housing situation to be homeless.
Programs that serve people experiencing homelessness include the Education for Homeless Children and Youths program administered by ED and the Emergency Food and Shelter program, a Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) program run by DHS. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) administers several programs that serve homeless individuals, including Health Care for the Homeless, Projects for Assistance in Transition from Homelessness, and the Runaway and Homeless Youth program. The Department of Justice administers a transitional housing program for victims of domestic violence.
HUD administers the Homeless Assistance Grants, made up of grant programs that provide housing and services for homeless individuals ranging from emergency shelter to permanent housing. The VA operates numerous programs that serve homeless veterans. These include Health Care for Homeless Veterans, Supportive Services for Veteran Families, and the Homeless Providers Grant and Per Diem program, as well as a collaborative program with HUD called HUD-VASH, through which homeless veterans receive Section 8 vouchers from HUD and supportive services through the VA. The Department of Labor also operates a program for homeless veterans, the Homeless Veterans Reintegration Program.
The federal government, through the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, has established a goal of ending homelessness among various populations, including families, youth, chronically homeless individuals, and veterans (the VA also has its own goal of ending veteran homelessness). Point-in-time counts of those experiencing homelessness in 2017 show overall reductions among homeless people, as well as reductions among chronically homeless individuals, people in families, and veterans compared to recent years. At the same time, however, homelessness in some parts of the country, particularly areas with high housing costs, has increased.
The chart to the right shows trends in targeted federal homelessness funding, broken down by federal agency, from FY2012-FY2017.