Chicago's Homelessness Stretches From The Streets To Jail

Of the more than 80,000 people homeless on the streets of Chicago, most are either mentally ill, people of color or military veterans, and worried advocates are warning that recent cuts in services are putting nearly all of them at further risk.

Three of four homeless people in Chicago are black and a third deal with some sort of mental illness, according to Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH), their needs are distinctive, given that they also are young and old, educated and uneducated, men, women and children.

Massive reductions in state spending have left tens of thousands without needed treatment and medication, while efforts to provide housing are only now coming to fruition.

Exacerbating the problem is what many mental health professionals are calling a “state of emergency” in the Illinois prison system — there are 10 times more mentally ill people in jails and prisons in the United States than in mental health hospitals, according to the Cook County Sheriff’s office.

Add it all up, and the stresses on the homeless population keep increasing, despite determined efforts to address the main reasons why so many people are displaced.