Study Says 50% With AIDS Face Homelessness

Up to half of all Americans with AIDS are either homeless or about to become so, and at least 15% of the people living on the streets are infected with the AIDS virus, a federal commission reported Wednesday.

“The failure of the present Administration to address the . . . AIDS housing crisis is clear,” a report by the National Commission on AIDS said. “It is estimated that from one-third to one-half of all people with AIDS are either homeless or in imminent danger of becoming so because of their illness, lack of income or other resources and weak support networks.”

It said the Department of Housing and Urban Development “has virtually ignored the AIDS housing crisis” and “has resisted almost all efforts by community-based organizations . . . and Congress to meet the housing needs of people with HIV disease.”

The report said people with AIDS often face discrimination in obtaining housing, despite a law that forbids such discrimination. Also, it said HUD has been slow to implement federal programs, passed by Congress, that specifically allocate funds for housing people with AIDS.

Additionally, HUD has not recognized infection with the AIDS virus as a disability, so AIDS-infected people do not have access to funds targeted for housing for the disabled, the report said.

Jim Forsberg, director of the HUD office of special needs programs, denied the charges, saying his agency was “doing programs targeted to people with AIDS.”

He said one in four people in a special shelter care program are AIDS or HIV patients, and that the agency on Monday will release $47.4 million in funds aimed at housing assistance for AIDS and HIV patients.

AIDS, or acquired immune deficiency syndrome, develops from infection by the human immunodeficiency virus, or HIV. The commission said studies estimated that 15% of homeless Americans are infected with HIV, and that up to 21.4% of selected homeless populations are infected.

Among recommendations by the commission are that HUD give AIDS patients’ housing top priority, that Congress require HUD to recognize HIV-AIDS as a disability, and that an official or agency be designated to draw up a national plan to combat AIDS and that it have Cabinet-level coordination.

The National Commission on AIDS includes 10 members appointed by Congress, and two selected by President Bush. There also are three non-voting members from the Cabinet.