2021 Missouri Homelessness Study

The 2021 Missouri Statewide Homelessness Study uses easy-to-read dashboards to summarize information about homelessness for the state of Missouri and each Continuum of Care (CoC) for the 2016-2020 time period. The Study relies on data from each Missouri Continuum of Care (CoC) Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, Housing Inventory Count (HIC), Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR), Longitudinal Systems Analysis (LSA) Report, system performance measurement data and local coordinated entry systems (CES). These data were collected through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Homelessness Data Exchange (HDX) database and CoCs systems.

Dashboards allow users to review trends on homelessness on a statewide basis and within each CoC. Trends covered in this report include:

• The number of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons;
• Data specific to population groups experiencing homelessness, including racial and ethnic groups, families, unaccompanied youth and Veterans;
• Homeless housing capacity, including emergency shelter, transitional housing and permanent housing; and
• System performance trends identified by measures determined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). These measures may be used to compare how the state and CoCs performed based on the percentage of households who return to homelessness after being housed, median length of time homeless, housing access and retention and progress toward ending homelessness for specific subpopulations.

The Missouri Housing Development Commission (MHDC) produced this report with the assistance of Community Analytics, LLC, a Kansas City-based consulting firm. In addition to data collection, Community Analytics interviewed CoC administrators and board members to obtain context for homeless data and issues affecting homeless service systems in the 2016-2020 study period. Previous statewide biennial reports on homelessness were published in 2019, 2017, 2015, 2013, and 2011, which are available for reference on MHDC’s website.

How to Use this Study

The 2021 Missouri Statewide Homelessness Study is presented as a series of dashboards that may be used to better understand both summary-level data and detailed information about homelessness on a statewide basis and in each CoC. Dashboards provide information about the number of people experiencing homelessness, including information about demographic groups experiencing homelessness. Dashboards also provide data related to housing capacity, coordinated entry system performance and homeless system performance.

Overall, the dashboards provide readers with a set of key takeaways on the number and demographics of those experiencing homelessness in the state and each CoC, as well as relative success in responding to homelessness for the 2016-2020 time period. Further, dashboards provide the reader with easy access to detailed data from the PIT, HIC, AHAR and LSA sources. The goal of the 2021 Missouri Homelessness Study is to offer those working to address homelessness in Missouri an opportunity to review available data across the state’s homeless systems of care, assess the progress made toward ending homelessness and identify opportunities towards reducing and ending homelessness.

Glossary of Terms

You can view the six 2021 Homelessness Study data dashboards by using the menu on the left-hand side of this page.