quality:corruption, information:classification
Puerto Rico

According to the count by the Puerto Rico Department of Family, in January 2017 there were 3,501 homeless persons in the territory. The study shows that 26 percent of this population lives in the capital, San Juan. Other municipality's percentage of this population was Ponce at 6.3 percent, Arecibo at six percent, Caguas at 5.3 percent, and Mayagüez at 4.7 percent. Results from the study determined that 76 percent of the homeless population were men and 24 percent were women and that both men and women populations, were on average age, 40 years old. This steadily increasing population might have increased more drastically as a result of Hurricane María which caused over 90 billion dollars in damage to the island of Puerto Rico.

Data provided by the Department of Community Social Development of San Juan indicates that in 1988 the number of homeless people in the municipality was 368, while in 2017 there were about 877 persons without a home. While the average age for the overall homeless population is 40 years old for both women and men, in San Juan the median is 48 years for men and 43 years for women. Other data obtained showed that more than 50 percent have university-level education. Also, it revealed that 35 percent of men and 25 percent of women have relapsed more than four times after unsuccessful attempts to reinsert themselves socially. Reasons given for wandering are varied with the most common causes being drug abuse (30.6%), family problems (22.4%), financial or economic problems (15.0%), and others such as unemployment, mental health problems, domestic violence, evictions, or lack of support when released from prison.