Forum Post: Homeless crisis in Miami-Dade

The underlying cause for the crisis is longstanding: the need for affordable housing for our lowest income households. The first thing that most people think of when confronted with these grim statistics is that most of these households qualify for some sort of housing assistance. Unfortunately this is not the case. The latest Miami-Dade County Housing Assistance data show that there are fewer than 27,000 households in Miami-Dade County that either live in public housing or are assisted by housing vouchers (Section 8).

In addition, almost all of the affordable housing constructed by private developers with federal, state and local government money is geared to households with income above $30,000 per year. Housing sufficient to meet the needs of lower income individuals and families is not being constructed in sufficient numbers. A review of subsidized affordable rental housing constructed in Miami-Dade County in the 10-year period between 1997 and 2006 showed that only 250 of the 14,260 units constructed were affordable to households with income of $15,000 per year, and only 1,404 units were affordable to those with income between $15,000 and $25,000. http://www.miamiherald.com/2012/01/17/2594307/homeless-crisis-in-miami-dade.html