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72 Alameda Countywide Homeless and Special Needs Housing Plan may require physically accessible units. Further, there are very few options for people at discharge from hospitalization or aging out of foster care. This plan seeks not only to address the housing needs of those who are experiencing homelessness now, but also to reduce future homelessness through creating housing that is affordable and appropriate to the needs and preferences of this plan's target populations. The 30,846 households identified above as needing housing assistance represent just 5.8 percent of all households in Alameda County and should be considered a conservative estimate-truly those most at risk of homelessness, not just anyone who might become homeless. To develop an estimate of the housing needed for the plan's three target populations, the population was divided into five distinct groups, based on the way the data was collected: · Chronically Homeless Single Adults · Community-defined Homeless Adults (Singles and Couples) · Community-defined Homeless Youth and Young Adults (up to age 25) · Community-defined Homeless Families · Extremely Low-Income Single Adults and Heads of Family Households Living with HIV/AIDS · Extremely Low-Income Single Adults and Heads of Family Households Living with Serious and Persistent Mental Illness Some of these individuals and families will only require a short stay in emergency housing, or a short-term rent or mortgage subsidy, with appropriate support to get back on their feet. For many, the combination of low wages and high rents will keep them at high risk of homelessness even after their immediate crisis is resolved. Others, depending on the complexity of their lives and the severity of their disability or medical issues will need long-term--even life-long-housing assistance. Most of these households will require some degree of support services linked to their housing, provided either on-site or through agencies in the community. Housina Needs of Chronicallv Homeless Sinale Adults The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development has established the following as a working definition of chronic homelessness: HUD-defined chronically homeless person: An unaccompanied homeless individual with a disabling condition who has either been continuously homeless for a year or more, or has had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years.9l In updating the 2004 Alameda Countywide Shelter and Services Survey (ACSSS), the Continuum of Care Council reports that 1,506 people in Alameda County in 2005 met HUD's definition of chronic homelessness at a point in time.92 In order to estimate the total number of people who meet the definition of chronic homelessness during the course of a year, this point-in-time count was multiplied by 1.25, for an estimate of 1,883 people experiencing chronic homelessness during the 91 "Notice of Funding Availability (NOF A) for the Collaborative Initiative To Help End Chronic Homelessness," Federal Register, Vol. 68, No. 17, January 27, 2003, p. 4019. This definition is shared by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs. 92 Richard Speiglman and Jean Norris, Alameda Countywide Shelter and Services Survey: County Report, prepared for the Alameda Countywide Homeless Continuum of Care Council, May 2004, pp. 1-12 to 1-13; Alameda Countywide Homeless Continuum of Care Council, 2005 Continuum of Care application, Exhibit I.