New homeless count out, but don't try to compare the numbers

From left, Tim Rennaker, Hannah Hunthausen, Jennifer Williams, Emily Mirra, and Gina Ohms search Ravenna for signs of people sleeping outside as they take part in the annual Point in Time count, early Friday morning, Jan. 27, 2017. Around 1,000 volunteers and guides spread out across the city Friday to count the number of people living without shelter. less From left, Tim Rennaker, Hannah Hunthausen, Jennifer Williams, Emily Mirra, and Gina Ohms search Ravenna for signs of people sleeping outside as they take part in the annual Point in Time count, early Friday ... more Photo: SEATTLEPI.COM Photo: SEATTLEPI.COM Image 1 of / 30 Caption Close New homeless count out, but don't try to compare the numbers 1 / 30 Back to Gallery

The number of people who are homeless in Seattle and King County has risen, but no one is really sure by how much.

In all, King County had no less than 11,643 people without permanent housing on Jan. 27, when a tally -- called Count Us In -- was done, according to the report released Wednesday morning by All Home King County. In Seattle, the count found 3,857 people unsheltered and 4,665 in shelters or transitional housing.

Countywide, the total would represent a 9 percent, or 963-person, jump over last year’s One Night Count. But this year’s count was done using a new method that counted more areas and did a better job of it, said Mark Putnam, All Home’s director. Even if the number of people experiencing homelessness had stayed the same for a year, the numbers would likely be higher simply because the count captured more data than in previous years, he said.

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The new report included a survey that gathered an array of data from the people encountered, including how people became homeless (the largest share, 30 percent, said it was because they lost a job while drugs and alcohol accounted for 20 percent), where they had lived before (77 percent had been living in King County before they became homeless) and what would be most helpful to get them back into housing (rental assistance and affordable housing were the top supports).

“This year’s count helps us better understand who is homeless and why they’re homeless,” said Catherine Lester, director of Seattle’s Human Services Department.

But as city and county leaders struggle to find effective ways to get people off the streets and into housing, the report can tell them little about how effective current programs really are.

Comparing this year’s report to previous years is “an apples to oranges comparison,” Putnam said.

The result is that this year’s report is something of a reset after 37 years of counting the city and county’s homeless population.

“We need to draw what we can from this and maybe this will be the baseline year,” said King County Councilmember Jeanne Kohl-Welles. In hindsight, she said a consistent methodology across the country would have been better, so that data could be compared consistently over time and between cities and counties.

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A point-in-time count like Count Us In is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Uban Development (HUD) each year, but the methodology is not set in stone.

Over the last several years, Seattle and King County have seen the population of people experiencing homelessness grow dramatically, despite a host of efforts to curb the issue.

People of color make up the largest segments of the homeless population, something that continues in this year’s count. African Americans made up the largest single segment, at 29 percent of those counted this year, while they only account for 6 percent of the total population.

This year’s report did find some improvements, however, especially in the area of families living on the streets.

More than 7,500 households were moved into permanent housing in 2016, the report found. And 97 percent of homeless families were at least sheltered on the night of the count. The report also found that 95 percent of families who get housing through the rapid rehousing program are stably housed when they leave the program (when subsidies end) and only 5 percent return to homelessness within two years.

Perhaps the biggest problem in the region is a lack of affordable housing combined with stagnant wages, the report found. That shouldn’t come as news to many Seattleites, who have watched rents soar and real estate values double.

Seattle is putting Mayor Ed Murray's Pathways Home plan into action, and the county is moving forward on creating a regional affordable housing task force to come up with a broader plan to add housing. Both efforts could make a difference, but the problem is still growing.

"The county and I believe the city are trying to do a lot for reducing the homelessness figures," Kohl-Welles said. "But the numbers become more vast every year. It just requires so much across the board breadth of assistance. We have to get more at the root problems."

Daniel DeMay covers Seattle culture, city hall, and transportation for seattlepi.com. He can be reached at 206-448-8362 or danieldemay@seattlepi.com. Follow him on Twitter: @Daniel_DeMay.