Editorial Board

Proven Reforms Help Beat Homelessness Even in Tough Times

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Remarkable developments are embedded within an otherwise humdrum announcement last month by the Department of Housing and Urban Development, which said that the number of homeless people in the U.S. declined slightly in 2012, according to a count on a single night last January.

The slight dip, a drop of 0.4 percent to 633,782, continues a trend of improvement now lasting five years. In that time, the U.S. has reduced homelessness by 5.7 percent even as the poverty rate grew by 20 percent.