Study: Houston's homeless population declines

Noah's Kitchen had been feeding the homeless in Houston for years, but recently decided to quit because of requirements in a new municipal ordinance. Noah's Kitchen had been feeding the homeless in Houston for years, but recently decided to quit because of requirements in a new municipal ordinance. Photo: Michael Paulsen Photo: Michael Paulsen Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Study: Houston's homeless population declines 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

Houston's homeless population has declined 14 percent from last year, according to official numbers released from the Coalition for the Homeless of Houston/Harris County Homeless on Tuesday.

The coalition counted 7,356 homeless on Jan. 31, compared with 8,538 homeless on Jan. 31, 2011. The annual point-in-time count, which is required by the federal government for funding purposes, gives a snapshot of unsheltered and sheltered homelessness on a given night.

Job loss was the leading factor for 35 percent of the homeless counted, the coalition said.

When the definition of homeless is expanded to include those sheltered in transitional housing, living in permanent supportive housing and incarcerated in the Harris County Jail, the total number of homeless in the Houston area is 11,848. That's a 14.5 percent decrease from last year, the enumeration report says.

This dip comes a year after the Houston area saw a 25 percent increase from 2010 to 2011, resulting in the region being named a priority by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The federal agency has provided the coalition help to reduce homelessness.

"The Coalition for the Homeless works with numerous area service providers every day to prevent and end homelessness in our region," coalition president and CEO Marilyn Brown wrote in a prepared statement. "Through their efforts, we have seen a drop in the homeless population in Houston. We remain committed to ending the cycle of chronic homelessness in our region."

Houston's federal funding will not be affected by the decline, Brown said. The city's unsheltered homeless number is still significantly higher than cities in the rest of the country, and that's a concern to federal officials, she said.

"We still have a very long way to go before it will reduce our federal dollars," Brown said.

Funding, however, could be reduced if there are federal budget cuts, she warned.

Chronically homeless

So far this year, homeless agencies in the area have provided services to 22,781 people. About 28 percent of those people were living in emergency shelters, the coalition said.

The annual enumeration shows more than 1 in 3 of the unsheltered homeless were considered chronically homeless, defined as an individual with a disability or a family with at least one person with a disability who has been continually homeless for a year or has had at least three episodes of homelessness in three years.

Only 1 out of 100 of the unsheltered were chronically homeless families.

Veterans made up 22 percent of this year's unsheltered homeless and 13 percent of the sheltered homeless.

More homeless youths

The count for homeless children and youth increased 14 percent from last year, according to a separate homeless count under The McKinney-Vento Homeless Education Assistance Act of 2001, which requires schools to identify homeless students.

The majority of homeless children are not covered by the current HUD definition of homelessness because it excludes people staying with others temporarily and people staying in motels because of lack of adequate alternatives.

About 12,512 homeless youth were identified in the 2011-12 school year, compared to 10,933 in the 2010-1011 school year.

This number is cumulative throughout the entire school year and includes children living in shelters as reported in the point-in-time count.

renee.lee@chron.com