It’s not unusual to see homeless people drifting outside of businesses, lingering near public transportation, sleeping under bridges, or camping in city parks.

Often, we look away.

But sometimes we pause and consider what in fact happened. What personal setbacks or tragic circumstances caused this?

The answers are important because the causes people assign directly impact their support for government solutions.

According to a 2023 report from U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the number of people living on the streets or in shelters on a single night in January was more than 650,000, a 12% increase from 2022. The count is the highest recorded since the inception of the annual report in 2007. It also marked the sixth consecutive year of growth.

Homelessness also rose in 41 states. The largest increases were in New York (29,022 more homeless), California (9,878), Florida (4,797), Colorado (4,042) and Massachusetts (3,634). States with the highest homeless population per 10,000 residents were New York (52), Vermont (51), Oregon (48) and California (46).

In Kansas, the homeless population was 2,636, or a rate of 9 per 10,000 residents. It’s the fifth year in a row Kansas’ homeless rate increased, and the largest total number since 2014.

Scholars and homeless advocates typically identify structural or systemic factors as root causes. Persistent system level challenges like the absence of affordable housing, particularly in low-income neighborhoods, and the grind of poverty are frequently cited.

In addition, individual causes are mentioned, such as lack of personal responsibility, poor finance skills, mental illness and substance abuse.

Recent polling shows most Americans recognize homelessness as a very serious problem. And the public names both systemic and individual causes.

However, Democrats prefer systemic causes and Republicans individual ones.

Democrats, for example, are more likely than Republicans to identify lack of affordable housing and poverty. Republicans are more likely than Democrats to name drugs and alcohol addiction and personal responsibility.

Consequently, Democrats strongly support government programs that build housing for the chronically homeless, boosting funding for subsidized housing, and allocating more resources to social services.

Republicans prioritize funding for people with addictions and for veterans. They also support incentivizing developers to build low-income housing, architecture that prevents homeless people from sleeping or camping in public, and banning homeless encampments.

Though the parties may never agree on the causes of homelessness, the unfolding humanitarian and administrative crisis at the U.S. Mexico border threatens to ensnare homelessness in the immense tangle of immigration politics.

Thousands of migrants have traveled to various cities across the country. Local governments and nonprofits, already dealing with the challenges of homelessness, face extraordinary financial strains in housing and feeding the new arrivals. Federal funds allocated for this purpose are increasingly scarce, which means many shelters may soon close and migrants will be forced onto the streets.

The two crises are coming together, one effectively magnifying the other.

Immigration now leads the latest Gallup Poll as the most pressing problem in the nation — surpassing inflation and the economy. Homelessness ranks fifth, moving up from past surveys and ahead of key issues like race relations, crime, democracy and health care.

We can no longer afford to look away.

— Mark Joslyn is a University of Kansas professor of political science.