Homeless encampment in wooded area in Auburn on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021. Photo by Henry Stewart-Wood/Sound Publishing

Homeless encampment in wooded area in Auburn on Friday, Aug. 27, 2021. Photo by Henry Stewart-Wood/Sound Publishing

King County to skip annual homeless count again, citing faulty methodology

The King County Regional Homelessness Authority said the count is inaccurate and “harmful.”

The annual Point In Time Count, which King County conducts to assess the amount of people in the region experiencing homelessness, is being skipped for the second year in a row as the King County Regional Homelessness Authority cites the practice’s faulty methodology.

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development requires a Point In Time Count of people living unsheltered to be conducted every two years in order to receive federal funding. King County received a federal waiver for the January 2021 unsheltered PIT Count because of COVID.

In January 2022, the count will be skipped again because the King County Regional Homelessness Authority believes the methodology of the count brings an inaccurate quantification of the amount of homeless individuals that can be “harmful in skewing the narrative and limiting the budget and resources dedicated to solutions.”

ADVERTISEMENT
0 seconds of 0 secondsVolume 0%
Press shift question mark to access a list of keyboard shortcuts
00:00
00:00
00:00
 

The Point In Time Count relies on volunteers to spread out across the county on one night in January and hand count the number of people that they physically see living unsheltered, multiplied by a number that’s meant to estimate the people they didn’t see, such as individuals living in abandoned buildings and in wooded areas. This total is then added to the number of sheltered people reported in surveys of shelter providers and in the Homeless Management Information System.

King County Regional Homeless Authority said in a written statement that because it relies on what volunteers see during a few hours in the early morning, in a neighborhood that may be unfamiliar to them, recorded on a paper tally sheet, at a time when there could be heavy rain or cold weather, there are many ways for data to be flawed.

The last PIT Count in January 2020 found 11,751 people experiencing homelessness in King County — 53% sheltered and 47% unsheltered — and the 2020 Census found 15,419 people living in “other non-institutional facilities,” which includes both sheltered and unsheltered.

King County Regional Homelessness Authority believes the actual number of homeless people in the region to be much larger.

According to a King County Department of Community and Human Services report advocating for an integrated data systems approach to counting the homeless, it is estimated that about 40,800 people in 2020 and 45,300 people in 2019 experienced homelessness at some point in the year.

King County Regional Homelessness Authority is working with data partners to explore other ways of collecting a more accurate number of people experiencing homelessness, including development of a “By Name List.” In the meantime, the agency says it will collect qualitative data from homeless individuals enrolled in their services and system to assess their needs.

The data collection will include surveys, interviews and focus groups and will take place over multiple months to increase participation.

“Together with our qualitative information, we will have a much clearer picture of who is living homeless, where they are and what they need,” according to a KCRHA written statement. “Which will allow us to advocate for solutions at the right size and scale to make a difference.”


Talk to us

Please share your story tips by emailing editor@kentreporter.com.

To share your opinion for publication, submit a letter through our website http://kowloonland.com.hk/?big=submit-letter/. Include your name, address and daytime phone number. (We’ll only publish your name and hometown.) Please keep letters to 300 words or less.

More in News

Maleng Regional Justice Center in Kent. FILE PHOTO
Three men charged in 2023 Kent murder of 48-year-old woman

Recent witness information identifying men help lead to charges in July 2023 shooting

FILE PHOTO, Bailey Jo Josie, Sound Publishing
Chase Wilcoxson, father to Matilda, 13, and Eloise,12, places a family photo at the roadside memorial dedicated to his daughters, Buster Brown, 12, and Andrea Hudson, 38, killed in a March 19 crash.
Year in review: Kent’s top stories of 2024

A month-by-month look at several of the headlining stories.

t
Kent Reporter’s most viewed web stories of 2024

Second fatal shooting of Kent-Meridian student in three days leads the list

t
Kent man pleads guilty to attempted luring of 6-year-old girl

Prosecutors initially filed second-degree attempted kidnapping charge in July case

t
Man charged with tagging Kent water tower faces nine other cases

Kyle A. McLaughlin pleads not guilty in two cases but Kent arraignment and other cases continued

t
Vandalism at Islamic Center in Kent causes concern about potential hate crime

Man throws objects through windows at Islamic Center of Federal Way mosque before speeding off in pickup

t
Kent receives $1.1M grant for Pacific Highway pedestrian crossing

Federal funds will pay for safety improvements near South 246th Street

t
Kent-based Toys for Joy program provides for 1,500 children

Puget Sound Fire collects more than 6,000 toys and stocking stuffers from community donations

t
Kent man, 34, shot and injured at sports bar on East Hill

Early Sunday morning, Dec. 22 at 25626 102nd Place SE

t
Kent Police Detective Ford retires after 29 years with department

Helped solve 44-year-old cold case murder in 2024

t
Kent’s Lower Russell Levee project receives John Spellman Award

City, King County Flood District and other partners recognized for historic preservation

Northwood Middle School, 17007 SE 184th St., in unincorporated part of King County in Renton and part of the Kent School District. COURTESY PHOTO, Kent School District
Calls about man trying to access Northwood Middle School causes lockdown

Deputies arrest man for investigation of resisting arrest, obstruction at Kent School District property