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ContraCostaInterJurisdictionalCouncilonHomelessness

HomelessCount2013

Background

TheU.S.DepartmentofHousingandUrbanDevelopment(HUD)requireseachContinuumof

Care(CoC)toconductabiannualcensusofshelteredandunshelteredpeopleexperiencing

homelessness.Thecountisconductedononeday/nightduringthelastweekofJanuary.As

such,thedatacollectedisapointintime(PIT)countandisthereforenotmeanttorepresent

thenumberofindividualswhoexperiencehomelessnessoverthecourseofayear.Thisyears

counttookplaceonthenightofJanuary29,2013andthemorningofJanuary30,2013.

Overall,the

count

will

aid

in

the

updating

and

implementation

of

the

10

year

plan

to

end

homelessness,whichwillassessourprogressinaccomplishingthegoalsoftheplantowards

endinghomelessnessinourcommunity.

Methodology:ShelteredPointinTimeCount

Fortheshelteredhomelesspopulation,ContraCostaCountyconductedasingledayPITcount

throughHMISreports,supplementedbyasurveyadministeredtoallserviceprovidersinthe

county.Eachproviderwasaskedtoreporthowmanypeoplewereshelteredintheirprogram

thatnight,brokendownbyagecategoryandhouseholdtype:

AgeCategories:

o Thenumberofchildrenunderage18

o Thenumberofadultsages18to24

o Thenumberofadultsoverage24

HouseholdCategories:

o Householdswithatleastoneadultandonechild

o Householdswithoutchildren

o Householdswithonlychildren(includingonechildhouseholdsandmultichild

households)

Thesurveys

and

HMIS

reports

also

captured

subpopulation

data

for

chronically

homeless

individualsandfamilies,maleandfemaleveterans,severelymentallyillpersons,chronic

substanceabuse,personswithHIV/AIDS,andvictimsofdomesticviolence(optionalreporting).

Methodology:UnshelteredPointinTimeCount

Fortheunshelteredhomelesscount,acombinationoftwosourceswasused:aPITheadcount

bycommunityvolunteers,andanOutreachTeamsurveyofencampments.Thecountwasheld

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from6:30amto8:30amonJanuary30,2013,ashorttimeframetoreducethechancesofcountingpersonstwice.Thecountywasdividedintosmallsectionseasilycoveredbyteamsofvolunteers,whoweretrainedontheuseofhighlightedmapsoftheircountingareas.OutreachTeamsalsoreceivedtraining,andcoordinatedoutreacheffortstoalloftheknownencampmentareasinthecounty.Inadditiontoaheadcountofhomelesspersons,theOutreachTeamsconductedsubpopulationdatasurveyswithapproximatelyeveryfifthpersontheyencountered.ComparisontoPastCounts:NotableFindings

The2013countfoundanoveralldecreaseof476individualsexperiencinghomelessness,from4,274personsin2011to3,798personsin2013.

The2013countfound336fewershelteredhomelesspersonsthanin2011.Thiswasduetodifferencesinthenumberofshelteredhomelesspersonsreportedbysupportiveservicesonlyprograms,aswellasadecreaseinthenumberofshelteredhomelesschildrenreportedbytheschooldistricts.

The2013countfoundadecreaseof140unshelteredhomelesspersons.Thisisduelargelytothedecreaseinunshelteredpersonslivinginencampments,from1,031personsin2011to747personsin2013.1

55%ofunshelteredhomelesspersonswereencounteredinencampments,comparedto69%in2011.

Thisyear,HUDsagecategoriesincludedtransitionageyouthages18to24.Ourincreasedeffortstocounttransitionageyouthresultedinidentifying157moreshelteredTAYthanin2011.

ShelteredandUnshelteredTotals 2009 2011 2013ShelteredHomelessPersons 1952 2784 2448UnshelteredHomelessPersons 1872 1490 1350Total 3824 4274 3798ShelteredHomelessHouseholdDetails 2009 2011 2013Families(atleastoneadultandonechild) 414 1307 858Householdswithoutchildren 1473 1422 1161Householdswithonlychildren 9 11TransitionAgeYouth 65 44 201UnshelteredHomelessDetails 2009 2011 2013HomelessPersonsinEncampments 1066 1031 747

1Note:unshelteredheadcountstypicallyresultinundercounts,especiallyofrecentlyhomelessindividualsand

families,whooftensleepinvehiclesandaremoredifficultforcommunityvolunteerstoidentifyandcount.If,forexample,ContraCostaCountyisexperiencinganincreaseintheincidenceofrecentlyhomelessindividualsandfamilies,thatfactwillnotbeaccuratelyreflectedinthePITCountbecausethoseindividualsandfamiliesarelesslikelytobeidentifiedandcounted.

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EastCounty

558

CentralCounty

416

WestCounty

376

UnshelteredCountbyCountyRegionThefollowingisthenumberofunshelteredpersonsexperiencinghomelessnessineachregionofContraCostaCounty,includingbycity.Comparedtothe2011count,thereweremorepersonscountedinEastCounty,anddecreasesinCentralandWestCounty.ThismaybeexplainedbyencampmentlocationsshiftingawayfromCentralandWestCounty,aswellaslargerdemographictrends,suchashigherpopulationgrowthratesinEastCounty. UnshelteredHomelessbyCountyRegion 2009 2011 2013

EastCounty 434 232 558CentralCounty 700 677 416WestCounty 738 581 376

CentralCountyCity Total

Alamo 0Concord 223Danville 4Martinez 69Pacheco 35PleasantHill 53SanRamon 4WalnutCreek 28Total 416

WestCounty EastCountyCity Total City Total

Crockett 19 Antioch 245ElCerrito 27 BayPoint 66ElSobrante 48 BethelIsland 25Hercules 18 Brentwood 48NorthRichmond 13 Byron 3Pinole 20 DiscoveryBay 1Richmond 142 Oakley 60Rodeo 3 Pittsburg 110SanPablo 86 Total 558Total 376

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HomelessSubpopulationData

ThefollowingdataforvarioussubpopulationtypeswerecalculatedthroughtheuseofHMIS

data,serviceprovidersurveys,andOutreachTeamsurveys.Pleasenotethatthesecategories

arenot

mutually

exclusive.

Clients

may

be

included

in

more

than

one

subpopulation

type.

Fortheunsheltereddata,twoformsofdataextrapolationwereused.Theunsheltered

subpopulationdataforpersonsinencampmentswasextrapolatedfromtheOutreachTeam

surveys.Thisdatamaybelowduetounderreportingbyunshelteredpersonswhenaskedto

selfidentifywiththesubpopulationcategories.*Forexample,itseemsunlikelythatzero(0)

individualsresidinginencampmentssufferedfromseverementalillness,chronicsubstance

abuse,orHIV/AIDS.

Forunshelteredpersonsnotinencampments,theresultswereextrapolatedfrom

subpopulationdatareportedintoHMISbynonhousing(supportiveservicesonly)service

providers.

HomelessSubpopulations Sheltered Unsheltered(Encampments)* Unsheltered(Other) Total

ChronicallyHomeless

Individuals512 20.9% 437 58.5% 143 23.7% 1092 28.8%

ChronicallyHomeless

Families45 1.8% 0 0.0% 23 3.8% 68 1.8%

Veterans 140 5.7% 101 13.5% 36 6.0% 277 7.3%FemaleVeterans 10 0.4% 0 0.0% 2 0.3% 12 0.3%

SeverelyMentallyIll 497 20.3% 0* 0.0% 216 35.8% 713 18.8%ChronicSubstanceAbuse 652 26.6% 0* 0.0% 199 33.0% 851 22.4%PersonswithHIV/AIDS 16 0.7% 0* 0.0% 10 1.7% 26 0.7%VictimsofDomestic

Violence(optional)217 8.9% 128 17.1% 102 16.9% 447 11.8%

*Note:Thesubpopulationdataforunshelteredpersonsinencampmentsisextremelylow

comparedwithothersourcesofsubpopulationdata,suchastheContraCostaCountyHomeless

Programsannualdemographicsandoutcomesreports,availablehere:

http://cchealth.org/services/homeless/hmis.php

Forexample,inFY20112012,19.32%ofpersonsservedsufferedfromalcoholabuse,21.02%

sufferedfromdrugabuse,24.15%hadamentalhealthproblem,and1.45%hadHIV/AIDS.

Thus,boththeunshelteredencampmentdata,aswellasthetotals,arelowerthanotherdata

availableforthehomelesspopulationinContraCostaCounty.