It’s only a snapshot, but annual count shows more homeless people in Pierce County
There has been an increase in homelessness in Pierce County since 2019, according to an annual count.
Statistics released this week show 400 more people living in shelters or outside in the county than in January 2019.
On Jan. 24, volunteers counted 1,847 people using shelters or transitional housing, or sleeping outside at encampments or on the streets.
That is a 28 percent increase from 2019’s count of 1,486.
John Barbee is the Pierce County Community Services Division manager. He presented the data to the Pierce County Council on Tuesday in a committee meeting.
Barbee said the increase in homelessness on that one night could be attributed to better methods for counting those sleeping outside and the fact that there is a steady trend in more people becoming homeless in Pierce County.
To encourage responses during the count, volunteers offered socks, water bottles and snacks.
The Point In Time Count is required by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide a “snapshot of homelessness.”
Homeless providers often say the “point-in-time count” is an inaccurate indicator of homelessness. They point to a coordinated system entry, which includes every person who has sought homeless resources services. That system said 11,665 people experienced homelessness in Pierce County in 2019.
Numbers Breakdown
While collecting information, volunteers ask those experiencing homelessness if they would like to be surveyed.
Of the 1,847 counted Jan. 24, 612 refused to be interviewed, but were counted nonetheless. Their information is not included in the following statistics. This is the first year the “observation counts” were included in the total number of people counted as homeless.
Volunteers found that more than a third of those counted, or 544, said their last reported ZIP code was in Tacoma. Lakewood had the second highest with 144, and Parkland followed with 126 folks saying that was their last reported last ZIP code.
Barbee spoke to the common perception that many of the people experiencing homelessness came from King County.
“I’m surprised there wasn’t a huge influx of people coming from up north,” Barbee told the committee.
A reported 46 percent were people of color, and 16 percent are adult survivors of domestic violence. Eight percent told volunteers they were veterans.
An estimated 57 percent of respondents said they have no income.
Three top reasons for homelessness include family crisis, lack of affordable housing and domestic violence. Barbee said this is the first time both family crisis and domestic violence were the top reasons people told volunteers they were homeless.
In 2019, those surveyed said lack of affordable housing, inadequate income and eviction were the top shared causes of homelessness.
“The one population that continues to be a staggering number is single males. We just don’t have an answer for that,” he told the committee.
Children are one of the more difficult homeless populations to accurately report.
“We really don’t get a good representation of the literally homeless children on the street,” Barbee said. “Some children choose to disappear when volunteers arrive to count.”
Of the people surveyed, 43 percent were staying at an emergency shelter.
County Councilman Derek Young is chairman of the Human Services committee. You said he is worried that once Gov. Jay Inslee’s eviction moratorium ends in August, there will be a surge in people forced out of their homes. The moratorium was put in place during the COVID-19 crisis.
“It’s clear to me we are getting more people help,” Young said. “The problem is we are getting overwhelmed but the number of people needing help.”
This story was originally published July 1, 2020 at 9:00 AM.
