Last Updated on August 6, 2023, 2:46 AM | Published: June 1, 2023
OKLAHOMA CITY – According to a report released by the City of Oklahoma City on Thursday, more than 1,400 individuals were experiencing homelessness on the night of the annual count this year.
On January 26, the community conducted its annual Point-in-Time Count of the homeless population, when 1,436 individuals were counted in a systematic process coordinated by the City of Oklahoma City and the Oklahoma City Homeless Alliance.
Increase
This is a marginal increase from 1,339 in 2022. 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; however, Oklahoma City conducts its survey annually.
While the number of homeless individuals counted on a single night increased, organizers say this does not necessarily indicate homelessness growth.
“We believe that last year’s count was artificially low,” said Dan Straughan, the executive director of the Homeless Alliance. “The 2022 count took place the first week of March, rather than the usual last week of January timeframe. There are lots of variables that impact the count, including weather and time of the month. I believe that we may have encountered several of those factors last year.”
‘Difficult’ process
“This is a particularly difficult population to count accurately,” acknowledged Jerod Shadid, program planner for Homeless Services in Oklahoma City. “The result from one year to the next may not tell you much but conducting the survey every year and looking at trends over time helps us identify where we need to focus our resources.”
The technique used in counting not just in OKC but throughout the U.S. is to pick a dark early morning time in the winter when the cold weather and darkness keep people without homes in place a little longer in the morning either at makeshift campsites or any other kind of shelter they can find.
Service providers, social workers, and police advise the OKC Homeless Alliance in days leading up to the count as to where camps are in the city and volunteers are sent to those sites on the morning of the count.
By the numbers
- 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 non-conforming
- 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
- 54% were staying in a shelter, 13% in transitional housing, 31% unsheltered
Straughan stated that while these numbers are useful for tracking long-term trends, the community also has a tool that monitors service use and statistics daily for the entire community. A total of 20,080 individuals were served by programs that record data in the Homeless Management Information System in the previous year.
Good news
“The good news is our community is constantly innovating to find better ways to house people,” said Shadid. “Thanks to years of collaboration, local organizations are doing a good job coordinating services and ensuring that we as a community are meeting people where they are to end their homelessness.”
“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,” said Straughan. “We just need to invest more and address some of the systemic issues that lead to homelessness.”
A portion of this investment has been made in Key to Home, the newest initiative of the City of Oklahoma City to end homelessness in our community.
Through an innovative encampment rehousing initiative, the city and service providers aim to reduce the number of chronically homeless individuals by 75% by 2025.
Visit okc.gov/homeokc or pick up the June issue of the Curbside Chronicle from a vendor wearing a green vest for the complete Point in Time report.
Founder, publisher, and editor of Oklahoma City Free Press. Brett continues to contribute reports and photography to this site as he runs the business.
