A federal report released Monday found homelessness was up 5.6 percent in Washington and 3.7 percent in Oregon, two of 19 states to report an increase in the number of people experiencing homelessness.
In both states, the majority of homeless people are unsheltered. California saw a slight decrease of 1.2 percent, as the number of people living on the streets fell in Los Angeles and San Diego, two epicenters of the homelessness crisis, suggesting possible success in those cities’ efforts to combat the problem.
Cities along the West Coast have driven the overall spike in the number of homeless people nationwide in recent years. This year’s count continued that trend, showing 552,800 people without homes across the country, up by about 2,000 from 2017, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s point-in-time tally. It was the second consecutive increase after seven straight years of declines.
Kate Budd, executive director of the Vancouver-based Council for the Homeless, attributed homelessness along the West Coast to unaffordable rents. She said low-income people devote 40 to 60 percent of their income toward rent, sometimes even 90 percent if they’re on a fixed income.
“The more of their income that’s going toward rent, the more likely they are to fall into homelessness,” she said.
Point-in-time counts
HUD’s report, which was sent to Congress, is based on data gathered during point-in-time counts conducted every January across the country. During Clark County’s single-day census of the homeless population, 795 people were counted, a 6 percent increase from 2017.
The 2019 count will be on Jan. 24.
“We have more teams going out than previous years,” said Budd. “We, like every year, seek to get the most accurate count possible.”
About 25 to 30 people canvass Clark County to count homeless people.
The nonprofit aims to get more thorough coverage and pay more attention to homelessness on the outskirts of Clark County. Homeless people will also be counted at Project Homeless Connect, the annual resource fair happening 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. the same day at St. Joseph’s Catholic Church. New this year: People can take shuttles to the event from the North County Food Bank in Battle Ground and the Salvation Army in Washougal.
The number of people living in the streets, encampments or other unsheltered places nationwide was more than 194,000 — also up from last year.
Positive signs
The decrease in Los Angeles and San Diego is a rare positive sign in cities that have struggled to cope with an exploding homeless population. It also comes as those cities are planning to spend big on affordable housing and other steps.
Last year, for instance, Los Angeles voters approved $1.2 billion to build 10,000 units of affordable housing over a decade. Local officials there also have ramped up outreach efforts to connect homeless people with services.
This year’s point-in-time count found just under 50,000 homeless people in the city, with three-quarters of them unsheltered. Both numbers were down from the year before.
San Diego, California’s second most populous city, also saw a decline in both total homelessness and those on the streets. After a hepatitis A outbreak spread among the homeless population and killed 20 people in 2017, the city turned to industrial-sized tents to house hundreds of people. As the tents went up, officials also cited people camping on downtown streets. Encampments downtown cleared out quickly, but the number along the San Diego River doubled.
The city is considering a ballot measure in 2020 to raise money for affordable housing.
Homelessness has exploded along with a soaring economy in several West Coast cities in recent years and has become a top local political issue. From 2015 through last year, voters on the West Coast approved more than $8 billion in spending — most of it in tax increases — to address homelessness.
In Seattle, which has the nation’s largest homeless population outside New York or Los Angeles, the count this year rose to more than 12,000 — more than half of them unsheltered. The number was less than 9,000 just four years ago, and the city has been wrestling with what to do about the problem.
The Seattle City Council in May passed a $48 million tax on businesses to raise money for affordable housing. But under pressure from Amazon, Starbucks and other companies, it repealed it the next month.
