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40,800 — New method for counting people living homeless in King County finds thousands missing from past tallies

(Image: Department of Community and Human Services)

The King County Regional Homelessness Authority says it is leaving behind an old, ineffective one-night method of counting the number of people living homeless here for a new approach that takes the full year into account and better includes those living with mental illness and addiction. The first results: Officials estimate more than 40,000 people were homeless in King County at some point in 2020.

CHS reported here on the county’s decision to forego for a second year the old census-style approach of a single point-in-time tally of people living outside, in vehicles, or under-sheltered. The last count performed in King County took place in January 2020 and identified nearly 12,000 people experiencing homelessness where with an increase in the number of people living in cars and RVs.

The county’s “point in time” counting effort was overhauled in 2017 with a new approach officials said would provide a more complete look by dispatching teams of three to four volunteers led by the paid guides across census tracts throughout King County.

In a new report, the authority says the Department of Community and Human Services found that at least 40,871 people experienced homelessness in King County during 2020. The new methods include cross referencing databases and identifying thousands of individuals not previously identified in past counts.

The Seattle Times reports the county is now in discussions with federal officials about how best to meet federal requirements for point-in-time counts with the new methods.

The U.S. Census estimated that 2,269,675 people lived in King County as of April, 2020.

The new findings come amid Seattle’s ongoing homelessness crisis and as officials have wrestled with how best to address issues of affordability, mental health, and addiction fueling the situation. The city’s 2022 budget will include millions in spending for new affordable housing, shelter space, and services even as the transition homelessness service contracts away from to the King County Regional Homelessness Authority’s control is completed. With that transfer, the city will lose its ability to dictate that money for homelessness services in Seattle is spent in exactly the way it wants. The KCRHA is hoping to receive funding to set up a new shelter downtown for people living unsheltered who suffer from behavioral issues. That would work in tandem with Mayor Bruce Harrell’s pledge to build 2,000 units of housing in his first year in office, which could include shelter beds.

After a 2021 filled with major sweeps and clearances of Seattle parks and public spaces, Harrell takes office with a homelessness plan calling for more housing and hinging on “a capital campaign” supported by charitable giving from the private sector, not new taxes. Meanwhile, Harrell said parks and streets should be cleared of encampments with increased outreach effort from workers to provide shelter and services.

 

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Below Broadway
Below Broadway
2 years ago

Is this the new method that counts every tent as occupied and estimates the total based on the count of tents? We (Heart) Seattle has proven this method is prone to over-counts, if this is how they’re doing it. Many tents get left abandoned as the homeless move around and/or get offered shelter elsewhere.

Artis Love
Artis Love
2 years ago
Reply to  Below Broadway

The word of a few people isn’t proof, it’s hearsay, and there is nothing scientific about their methods. Ya’ll will never achieve becoming a trustable source for obtaining data such as this.