Annual Count of Homeless to be January 26th

By Stan Matthews
County Website and Communications Program Manager

San Juan County’s Health & Community Services Department will participate in the state’s annual Point in Time Count of Homeless Persons (PIT) on Thursday, January 26th. The department is now contacting and enlisting the cooperation of local agencies and organizations that come in contact with homeless members of the community.

The annual count was mandated by a state law passed in 2005 which seeks to reduce homelessness in the state by 50% by the year 2015.

Last year the number of homeless individuals counted in San Juan County increased from 79 in 2010, to 110 in 2011, an increase of thirty nine percent. Last year’s local count included 42 people living in tents, cars, boats (not equipped with facilities for living aboard) or staying in motels (with money from churches, etc.). The remaining 68 people, were in temporary, unstable living arrangements, often with friends or family members. Counters found that many of the homeless were children or people with disabilities.

San Juan County has adopted a Ten Year Homelessness Prevention Plan to combat the problem, 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 temporary rental subsidies for approximately seven homeless families with children and individuals receiving case management from a partnering agency, including Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault Services (DVSAS), Washington State Dept. of Social and Health Services (DSHS), or Compass Health. These subsidies are expected to be continued in 2012, provided state and federal government funding is available; however resources are very limited so criteria for qualifying is rigorous.

PIT Count organizers acknowledge that it is impossible to discover the exact number of members of the community who are homeless or staying in unstable situations with friends or family. However, the annual count provides the best information that is available and can give community leaders and concerned citizens a sense of the dimension of the problem.

Organizations which are being asked to assist in the count 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. 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.

Questions that will be asked of people identifying themselves as homeless include 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. 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 website at: https://www.commerce.wa.gov/site/1064/default.aspx