Washington state’s annual Point in Time Count of Homeless Persons (PIT) is scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 27. San Juan County Health and Community Services will participate in the count, enlisting the cooperation of local agencies and organizations that come in contact with homeless members of the community. The annual count is mandated by a 2005 Washington state law that seeks a 50 percent reduction in homelessness by the year 2015.
The number of homeless individuals counted increased eight percent from 2009 to 2010, rising from 73 to 79; organizers expect a larger increase this year due to the continued difficult local and national economic situation. Last year’s survey found that a significant number of San Juan County’s homeless were families with young children and teenagers; more than a third were under 21 years of age.
The number of individuals identified as “unsheltered” more than tripled from nine in 2008 to 29 in 2010. Unsheltered refers to men, women and children living in cars, tents, boats without live-aboard facilities, or temporarily housed in motels with short-term help from churches or other organizations. The rest were being temporarily sheltered by friends or family members.
San Juan County has adopted a Ten Year Homelessness Prevention Plan to combat the problem (Resolution 09-2009), and in 2009 the County Council approved a Senior Rent Subsidy Program to help qualifying seniors who have an extremely low income. In 2010 the county received grant funding for a tenant-based rental assistance program (TBRA) providing up to twenty-four months of rental subsidies for approximately ten homeless families with children and individuals receiving case management from a partnering agency, including DVSAS, DSHS, or Compass Health. These subsidies are expected to be continued in 2011, provided state and federal government funding is available; however resources are very limited so criteria for qualifying is rigorous. Resources for other homeless groups are likely limited.
PIT Count organizers say it is impossible to discover the exact number of members of the community who are homeless or staying with friends or family in unstable situations. However, the annual count provides the best available information and can give community leaders and concerned citizens a sense of the dimension of the problem.
Organizations that will be asked to assist in the county include local schools, food banks, churches, healthcare providers, support service counselors, youth groups, senior centers, family resource centers, the sheriff’s department, fire and EMS departments and others. Facilities such as food banks that may not be open on Thursdays may conduct their count on a different day, as long as it is during the same week.
People identifying themselves as homeless will be asked their approximate age, gender, whether they have dependent children who are also homeless, whether they are a senior citizen, have a disability, a drug or alcohol addiction, if they are chronically homeless or if they have a temporary living situation with friends or relatives, also known as “couch surfing.” Personal information collected in the count is kept confidential and identifying information, such as names or birth dates, cannot be collected without the written consent of the individual.
An archive of the statewide PIT count results since 2006, including San Juan County’s, is available on the Department of Commerce Web site.
If you have questions about this year’s count, please contact Angie Lausch, Affordable Housing Coordinator, San Juan County Health & Community Services at (360) 370-7526 or by email at angelal@sanjuanco.com
