OKC's 'snapshot' of homeless shows efforts are working, agencies say, but more to come

The number of people experiencing homelessness in Oklahoma City slightly increased over the last year, according to the results of the 2023 Point in Time Count.

However, Dan Straughan, executive director of the Homeless Alliance, said the homeless population is not growing unchecked, and it's important to note that the count provides only a "snapshot" of homelessness in the community.

The annual survey of the homeless population, released on Thursday, found that 1,436 people were experiencing homelessness when the count was conducted on Jan. 26, an increase from 1,339 people counted during the 2022 yearly survey.

Straughan said the 2022 Point in Time Count was taken the first week of March ― a departure from the end of January timeframe when the survey is typically taken — and that was likely a factor in the increase reported this year. He said the 2022 count was conducted during the first week of March because COVID variant numbers were high in January of that year and an ice storm occurred in February so leaders were advised to postpone the annual survey.

By contrast, the 2023 survey was taken during the last week of January, and Straughan said he thinks the count is likely more accurate than the year before because the cold weather often drives people to shelters where they may be easily counted.

"The truth is that last year's count was almost certainly an undercount," Straughan said. "This year, we were able to do it the last week of January like we've normally done, and the numbers were up some but not much ― 7%. So, it's likely that if there's an increase at all, it was marginal."

The city of Oklahoma City and other communities that receive funding from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development are required to conduct the survey at least once every two years, though Oklahoma City typically conducts its survey annually.

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Straughan said the count is important in terms of helpful data, but homeless service providers also know that 20,080 people experiencing homelessness were served over the last year by programs that record data in the Homeless Management Information System. He said this system is another important good tool that helps track trends over long periods of time.

"I think a really important point to make is this number is a snapshot," Straughan said. "So, you could say on any given night in Oklahoma City, you can say there are 1,400 or so people experiencing homelessness, but over the course of the year, we had over 20,000 people flow through that system, and those are just the ones that are on our Homeless Management Information System; it is not all the agencies. Fourteen hundred, that's a really soluble problem, but to know that 20,000 people a year are flowing through that system tells you that A, the system is working pretty well ― not well enough, but pretty well — and B, that this problem is probably greater than most people suspect."

Behind the numbers: Growing number of women experiencing homelessness in OKC

Nineteen teams of volunteers from various homeless service providers spread out into the city on Jan. 26 to visit places like shelters, encampments, meal programs, libraries and churches to talk to people experiencing homelessness.

Along with the slight increase in people experiencing homelessness, they also found that:

• 9% of the population are veterans.

• 20% are members of families with children.

• 36% are female, 62% are male, 1% are transgender, and 1% are nonconforming.

• 48% are white, 32% are Black, 7% are Native American, 12% identify as multiple races, and 1% identify as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.

• 11% are youth aged 24 or younger.

• 23% of the population reports mental illness.

• 28% are considered “chronically” homeless; and 54% were staying in a shelter, 13% in transitional housing, 31% unsheltered.

Straughan said a couple of trends stood out to him. One was the number of women experiencing homelessness. He said the percentage is almost "two to one" compared to men, and this points to the need for an additional shelter for women.

On the positive side, Straughan said he was pleased to see the number of veterans living on the streets was in "single digits," according to this year's count. He said several decades ago, homeless service providers, the VA and other entities worked to create programs and services to reduce the incidence of veteran homelessness, and it looks like those efforts have been successful.

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Challenges persist

Straughan said there are several current challenges facing individuals experiencing homelessness and the homeless service providers seeking to help them. He said they face a limited availability of affordable housing, which has been a concern for a while. Also, rising rent, among other factors, has led to rising eviction rates.

The Homeless Alliance said 46.4% of residents in Oklahoma County are rent-burdened, and nearly 16% live under the poverty level, according to Legal Services Corp.’s Eviction Tracker. Straughan said a key factor in the latter issue is Oklahoma's Landlord Tenant Act, which he said is a product of the 1950s and tends to favor landlords. He said he and others advocating for change were hoping that a bill tackling this issue would get more traction than it did in the state Legislature, but they will keep pushing for it during the next legislative session.

Then, there are other issues such as substance abuse, domestic violence and mental illness that may contribute to homelessness. Homeless Alliance leaders said Oklahoma has some of the highest national rates of each of these societal ills.

Straughan said the community is working on solutions to the myriad of situations that lead to homelessness. He pointed to the Key to Home, Oklahoma City's newest initiative to end homelessness. As part of this initiative, the city and service providers are hoping to reduce the number of chronic homeless people by 75% by 2025 through an innovative encampment rehousing initiative.

"The community is working really hard to bring together multiple nonprofits and government agencies to take a team approach to housing people, and it’s working," he said. “We just need to invest more and address some of the systemic issues that lead to homelessness.”

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: OKC's 'snapshot' of homeless shows small increase, but success overall