These counts are notoriously unreliable because of the difficulty of finding homeless people, who are forced to hide by the local camping ban, to avoid being hassled and ticketed by the cops. So any apparent progress may be an illusion.

Yes, there is a lot of churn. The chronically homeless, nationally, are only about 20 percent of the total, with around 80 percent homeless temporarily. While they're homeless the main thing they need is shelter. Most are homeless because they do not have enough money to get into an apartment. Yes, it really is that simple., but people would like to make it complicated so they don't have to deal with the reality of low wages and high rents.

This editorial is typical of liberal thought on the homeless issue by focusing on mental illness and "substance abuse", trying to turn a social problem into a personal one. It confuses cause and effect.