More than 1,400 people were experiencing homelessness on the night of Oklahoma City’s annual count, according to a report released on Thursday by the City of Oklahoma City.
The community conducted its annual Point in Time Count of the homeless population on January 26, and 1,436 people were counted. This is slightly up 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, although Oklahoma City typically conducts their survey annually.
While the number of people counted on that single night increased, organizers say it does not necessarily mean homelessness is growing unchecked.
“We believe last year’s count was artificially low,” said Dan Straughan, 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.”
“This is a particularly difficult population to count accurately,” agreed Jerod Shadid, program planner for the City of Oklahoma City’s Homeless Services. “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 count also found:
- 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
- 54% were staying in a shelter, 13% in transitional housing and 31% unsheltered
While these numbers provide good data to track trends over long periods of time, the community has an additional tool that tracks service use and numbers daily for the entire community, Straughan said. Last year, 20,080 people were served by programs that record data in the Homeless Management Information System.
“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.”
But two of the current challenges homeless service providers are facing are the continued limited availability of affordable housing and rising eviction rates. According to Legal Services Corporation’s Eviction Tracker, 46.4% of residents in Oklahoma County are rent-burdened and nearly 16% live under the poverty level.
Services to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place are largely beyond what local service groups can provide, and significant increases in local housing costs over the last decade and stagnant wages have added pressure for people with financial difficulties. Oklahoma also has some of the highest national rates of mental illness, substance abuse and domestic violence that create added challenges.
“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.”
Part of that investment has come in the form of Key to Home, the City of OKC’s newest initiative to end homelessness in our community. Under this initiative, the city and service providers hope to reduce the number of chronic homeless people by 75% by 2025 through an innovative encampment rehousing initiative.
For the full Point in Time report, visit okc.gov/homeokc or pick up the June issue of the Curbside Chronicle from a vendor in a green vest.
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Media Contact
Taylor Self, Homeless Alliance
Cell: (845) 475-5115
Office: (405) 415-8439
Editor’s note: To set up an interview with Dan Straughan of the Homeless Alliance, Jerod Shadid with the City of OKC or someone who is experiencing homelessness, contact Taylor Self at (845) 475-5115.
This post was originally sourced here.
