As if the federal government didn't have enough expensive programs - including many that don't work well - an interagency study says homelessness in America is worse than previously believed and calls for major new spending on the problem.

A draft of the study, jointly headed by three Cabinet secretaries, now goes to President Clinton, who last spring asked for the review. If embraced by the president, it would mark the first time Washington has called homelessness a problem that demands a large federal response.According to the study, as many as 7 million Americans were homeless at some point in the late 1980s. Previous Republican administrations estimated the number at 600,000 on any given night.

However, comparing those numbers would be misleading, since there is a vast difference between the total who were homeless at some time during several years and the estimated figures for a single night.

But a possible dispute over the compilation and use of statistics pales beside a more serious issue raised in the study. The report calls for spending an unspecified but large amount of money to correct homelessness.

The draft did mention that the Department of Housing and Urban Development would have another $15 billion a year if its budget had kept pace with inflation. That obviously was a hint. But it's a hint that should be ignored.

The enthusiasm of HUD officials for a federal homelessness program is understandable since that agency's budget would get much of the money in any such effort.

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Money is the key issue. Where in a supposedly shrinking federal budget would funds for housing and homeless prevention come from? Another federal task force dealing with welfare reform recently suggested cuts in those same programs in order to provide new programs for people on welfare.

There is no question that the problem of homelessness has increased markedly in recent years. A study in Utah showed that the number of homeless children and families had doubled since 1990 and homeless shelters in the state suffer from overcrowding. The situation is worse in many other places around the country, particularly the larger cities.

But all of this is not a compelling argument or invitation for the federal government to plunge into the homeless problem. Aside from the issue of the huge federal deficit, the solution should be left in the hands of states and local governments.

They must deal with the daily realities of homelessness and are the ones best equipped to discover the answers. Let's leave it in their hands.

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