Why Latino homelessness in Chicago is worse than it looks | ChicagoNOW

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:00]So, this is an unfortunate segment and we're talking about skin cancer potential. Now we're talking about homelessness, but we're talking about homelessness rates because among Latinos, it has increased in Chicago in recent years, especially after the influx of migrants bused to Chicago by Texas Governor Greg Abbott. A new report also shows that doubled up homelessness, which means temporary living with friends or family is also more prevalent among Latinos and other populations. So, joining us this morning to break down this study is Dr. Carlie Brown who works with research on race and public policy at the University of Illinois Chicago.

[00:00:34]Good morning to you, doctor.

[00:00:36]>> Good morning. Thank you for having me.

[00:00:37]>> Okay, let's talk about this report and the highlights that stick out to you.

[00:00:42]>> Yeah, so really the main takeaway of the report is that Latinx homelessness is really caused by a number of big-picture policy barriers that need to be addressed. So, rent burden, which means spending 30% or more on your housing costs, that's something that 45% to 55% of Latinx individuals in Illinois experience. And so, things like that, things like lack of full-time stable employment, things like lack of access to health insurance and Medicaid coverage, all of those things ultimately lead to increased rates of homelessness for the Latinx population.

[00:01:19]And as you mentioned, doubled up homelessness is especially prevalent for this population. And that means, you know, staying with friends or family and a lot of folks do that by choice.

[00:01:29]Multigenerational households are very common, but doubled up homelessness means you're there not because you want to be, but because you have to be. And so, that's also something that's been consistently prevalent in the Latinx population in Illinois. And so, we ultimately suggest that policy changes need to be made around affordable housing and employment in order to decrease homelessness rates among the Latinx population, especially doubled up homelessness.

[00:01:55]>> Okay, before we get into the possible solutions here, well, I'm curious, what was the methodology of this report? How did you gather the data?

[00:02:04]>> Yes, so we used data from the point-in-time count, and that's something that's done every year. It's a survey folks that are done that's done on January a day in January and >> [clears throat] >> a number of nonprofits and different organizations go out and they literally just count the people on the streets, count the people in the shelters. So we have that number and that gives us sheltered and unsheltered homelessness.

[00:02:29]For doubled-up homelessness, that's a little bit more difficult to calculate because there's not really a a built-in method for doing that. A lot of the folks who are doubled up, they wouldn't be in that count. And so we use the American Community Survey data to kind of triangulate how many folks are staying with a friend or family member and we did that count kind of separately. And then we also did focus groups and interviews with unhoused folks in Illinois to kind of get a better, more holistic understanding of their experience.

[00:03:01]>> Can we talk about the numbers? Before we were talking about folks being bused here, the migrants being bused here.

[00:03:07]Before that happened and that number compared to where we're at today.

[00:03:13]>> Yes, so before that happened, homelessness among the Latin A population had been trending downward to some extent including sheltered, unsheltered and doubled-up homelessness.

[00:03:26]With the migrants who were bused here, that number skyrocketed particularly for sheltered and unsheltered homelessness.

[00:03:34]Since that time, so that was around 2022 to 2024, since that time we are still you know collecting data on that. That's not that long ago, but we have found that things are trending back downwards.

[00:03:48]So the the peaked around 2024 and are now trending down. Um But definitely the impact of the migrants being bust up here is still being seen today.

[00:04:00]And it also correlated with other things that were going on like the ending of the eviction moratorium. And so those things kind of compounded to make 2022 to 2024 a really difficult time for a number of folks and really just taxed the shelter systems that we have.

[00:04:17]>> Okay, let's talk about solutions here.

[00:04:20]I I believe you mentioned employment is a key piece of this. But what can you expand on that and also on what this report is telling you for what needs to happen to address this issue?

[00:04:36]>> Yeah, so um a lot of folks that we speak with, a lot of folks in the Latinx community in Illinois, they have jobs. They're working. But a lot of those jobs are part-time or they're seasonal or they um get some hours some weeks but not every week or what what have you. And so the lack of full-time stable employment is a huge barrier for every um for every increase in the Latinx population of folks who have part-time instead of full-time jobs, that's associated with an increase in doubled up homelessness, right? So there is a very direct link to employment and housing and and homelessness.

[00:05:17]Um Additionally, a lot of the migrants, for example, who are bust up, they have very clear and strict barriers of the type of employment that they can pursue. Without the paperwork they need, without work permits, they can't begin working. And without consistent stable full-time employment, housing secure stable housing is just not possible.

[00:05:37]>> Doctor, since you work with research on recent public policy, I'm just curious.

[00:05:41]I know we've seen heartbreaking video and images of children. Can you talk about how homelessness affects the youth in these communities?

[00:05:50]>> Yeah, so um a lot of youth um live in doubled-up housing situations. And in some ways that can be helpful, right?

[00:05:58]Like having other folks there to help with child care or to help get children to and from places. But that instability does have an impact on youth, it has an impact on their emotional and mental stability. It causes a lot of stress if you don't know where you're going to be staying next week. Um but also kind of moving around, not having a secure housing, um it impacts their schooling, right? You can't consistently get yourself to school every day if you're living somewhere different. Um and you know, the parents we spoke with, they were really passionate about making sure that their children were receiving an education. But when they, you know, slept on the street or they slept in a shelter or they slept in a living room and didn't have heat, it's hard to expect any of these students to, you know, come to school and be able to really commit themselves to the work they're doing. So those are some some of the kind of big consequences of um homelessness to the Latinx youth.

[00:06:52]>> Makes sense. Makes sense.

[00:06:54]What would be your message to, I know he's on the way back from uh the Vatican right now, but uh Mayor Johnson, City Hall for policy changes that you would like to see implemented immediately with regard to this data?

[00:07:07]>> Yeah, so I think that um our report, you know, focuses on statewide changes and we we met with Governor Pritzker to kind of talk through some of our findings. Um and so the things we want to see at the state level are things we want to see at the city level. So increases in affordable housing. Um Pritzker, I know recently um with the Illinois Housing Department Authority Development Authority, um they uh dedicated $50 million to um the creation of six additional permanent housing developments. Um those kind of things is what we need to see across the state and in the city. Um and also expansion of job programs. Like I mentioned, a lot of folks are working, but if they're not working full-time stable jobs that have um, consistency, then they're not going to be able to afford housing. So, the programs that exist, and there are many, they need to be, you know, expanded. Information about them needs to be shared with everybody, including the unhoused population. Um, and they need to be dedicated to full-time and consistent employment.

[00:08:08]>> Okay. Message uh, received loud and clear uh, based on this data, Dr. Carlie Brown. Thank you so much for your time this this Friday morning. We appreciate it.