WASHINGTON, D.C. — Minnesota homeless assistance programs have been awarded a combined $18 million, Housing and Urban Development officials announced Wednesday.
“As we move into the coldest time of the year, it’s critical that no program risk running out of money to keep their doors open,” said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. “These grants will make certain that those programs on the front lines of helping the homeless have the resources they need to house and serve persons who might otherwise be forced to turn to the streets.
The bulk of Minnesota’s cash, which is awarded through the department’s Continuum of Care programs to individual local homeless housing and services programs, is headed to the Twin Cities area. More than $7 million was awarded to Hennepin County agencies and about $4 million was given to Ramsey County groups.
The money is intended to continue local programs. Funding levels for start-up programs will be announced in early 2010. For state-by-state information, go here.
Here’s an analysis of the figures published by HUD which shows, state by state, the proportionate share of the total grants given under this program compared with the proportionate share of the state’s population in the total U.S. population (2008 estimates).
As you can see, the District of Columbia’s share of the grants exceed its population weight by more than 600%, and Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York and others near the top of the table also out-granted their population by hefty margins. Check out the negative Minnesota number, down a ways in the list.
I am wondering what the disparities here actually mean. Do they indicate some states simply suffer from a greater degree of homelessness, proportionately speaking, or are some states’ agencies simply “better” at applying for grants, or is it the result of political influence exercised at HUD? Hmmmm…anybody got any ideas?
State Grant % Pop % G vs P
D.C. 1.38% 0.19% 624.79%
MA 4.23% 2.11% 100.25%
CT 2.14% 1.15% 85.81%
NY 11.68% 6.31% 85.10%
MD 3.19% 1.84% 73.30%
HI 0.72% 0.42% 71.61%
ME 0.67% 0.43% 55.06%
IL 5.91% 4.20% 40.65%
LA 1.91% 1.40% 36.64%
DE 0.38% 0.28% 33.96%
CA 15.85% 11.95% 32.63%
WA 2.70% 2.11% 28.18%
MI 4.16% 3.29% 26.34%
VT 0.25% 0.20% 24.89%
PA 4.99% 4.06% 22.90%
AZ 2.42% 2.07% 16.98%
AK 0.24% 0.22% 7.37%
OH 3.93% 3.75% 4.67%
OR 1.28% 1.23% 3.68%
RI 0.35% 0.35% 0.49%
GU 0.06% 0.06% -3.28%
NH 0.39% 0.43% -9.72%
MO 1.72% 1.92% -10.57%
NM 0.57% 0.64% -11.39%
KY 1.22% 1.39% -12.25%
WI 1.55% 1.83% -15.20%
FL 5.02% 5.97% -15.91%
CO 1.30% 1.59% -18.55%
MN 1.35% 1.70% -20.40%
AL 1.04% 1.51% -30.96%
PR 0.86% 1.29% -33.10%
GA 1.88% 3.12% -39.82%
ND 0.12% 0.21% -41.60%
NJ 1.65% 2.84% -41.84%
TN 1.15% 2.01% -42.69%
IA 0.56% 0.98% -43.36%
VA 1.43% 2.52% -43.45%
TX 4.29% 7.81% -45.02%
MT 0.16% 0.31% -47.74%
ID 0.25% 0.49% -48.25%
NV 0.39% 0.84% -53.31%
UT 0.38% 0.87% -56.36%
NE 0.24% 0.58% -58.31%
IN 0.84% 2.07% -59.58%
WV 0.23% 0.59% -60.18%
KS 0.34% 0.91% -62.46%
NC 1.12% 3.08% -63.69%
AR 0.31% 0.93% -66.23%
MS 0.31% 0.95% -67.40%
SC 0.45% 1.44% -68.73%
SD 0.08% 0.26% -69.19%
OK 0.34% 1.18% -70.89%
WY 0.03% 0.17% -85.24%