Homeless numbers down, but risks rise

Justin Lane / EPA

A woman walks past a man sleeping on a street in New York in November 2009.

A report released Wednesday says the number of homeless people in America fell slightly between 2009 and 2011 despite a teetering economy, but homeless advocates say the numbers don’t tell the full story.

The report, “State of Homeless in America 2012,” was issued by the National Alliance to End Homelessness, a nationwide federation of public, private and nonprofit organizations. It examined homelessness between 2009 and 2011, a period when the U.S. economy was dragging itself out of its worst recession since World War II.