Quarterly Homeless Count Shows Increase

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A quarterly homeless count conducted by the DowntownDC BID on Monday, July 15, identified 210 homeless individuals living on Downtown streets at night, an 8.6 percent increase from July 2012 and a 21.4 percent jump from the quarterly count held in April 2013. The increase, on par with seasonal data trends, was likely caused by the transient nature of the homeless population, inadequate shelter space and warm weather.

What the July 2013 results revealed:

  • 78 percent were male
  • 19 percent female (the gender of 3 percent of those surveyed was unknown)
  • 75 percent were African American; 16 percent Caucasian; 4 percent Hispanic; 2 percent Asian (3 percent either didn’t self-identify or outreach teams were unable to visually determine racial makeup or ethnicity or both)
  • 7.6 percent were veterans
  • 28 percent admitted to having health issues
  • 8 percent had some form of employment
  • 16 percent stated they had recently stayed in a shelter

The number of homeless veterans fell from 8.5 percent in April 2012, a decline partly due to the success our Downtown Homeless Services Team (DHST) has had placing them in housing over the past several months. Also noteworthy: more homeless individuals had some form of employment during the July 2013 count—whereas 3 percent were employed in April 2013.

“Overall, the high number of homeless individuals identified in this July count, on par with numbers from the October 2012 count of 215, leads us to believe that the number of unsheltered homeless individuals will only continue to rise as the year progresses prior to hypothermia season,” said David Kamperin, the BID’s director of Public Space Management.

The quarterly counts have four main objectives: to document the state of homelessness; identify trends and changes taking place among Downtown’s homeless population; address any unmet needs stated by individuals; and justify additional funding and resources that individuals can use.