The seriously mentally ill are definitely a large proportion of homeless people. This is the National Coalition for the Homeless writing:
"According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 20 to 25% of the homeless
population in the United States suffers from some form of severe mental illness. In comparison, only 6%
of Americans are severely mentally ill"
A HUD Report has 26% of people in shelters having a serious mental illness [2] (Search "serious mental illness").
When I researched this a few years ago I regularly saw 200,000 people as the number with serious mental illness who were homeless and about an equal amount in prison (with people regularly cycling in and out of prison because of their mental illness).
Another study found that a large number of homeless people have suffered a traumatic brain injury at some point in their lives:
"Researchers at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto surveyed 111 homeless men and found that 45 percent of them had suffered at least one traumatic brain injury (or TBI) in their life, and 87 percent of those injuries occurred before they were homeless. Among the general population, TBI rates are estimated to be 12 percent, according to a 2013 meta-analysis of studies from developed countries."
"According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 20 to 25% of the homeless population in the United States suffers from some form of severe mental illness. In comparison, only 6% of Americans are severely mentally ill"
A HUD Report has 26% of people in shelters having a serious mental illness [2] (Search "serious mental illness").
When I researched this a few years ago I regularly saw 200,000 people as the number with serious mental illness who were homeless and about an equal amount in prison (with people regularly cycling in and out of prison because of their mental illness).
[1] http://www.nationalhomeless.org/factsheets/Mental_Illness.pd... [2] https://www.hudexchange.info/resources/documents/2010Homeles...