There are limited emergency shelters, transitional housing facilities and permanent housing or other similar facilities throughout the State. The availability of services and facilities on a less than overnight basis to the homeless is limited to the capacity each can provide its users.
Overnight beds are virtually always full, and there is always more demand than supply.
Length of stay varies from overnight to over several years. The long stays of homeless persons at emergency shelters, mostly with some form of disability for whom shelters have become a residence of last resort, affords an alternative to living in the street. Many homeless are unsheltered persons who are living outdoors due to bed space and occupancy restrictions. Various support services are available to the homeless through social service agencies. Many of these people are dependent upon assistance benefits and an increasing number have lost their jobs.