2019 King County Homeless Count: What's Different This Year

SEATTLE, WA — King County has released preliminary numbers from the 2019 point-in-time count of homeless people, and it shows a decline in the homeless population for the first time since 2012.

The count found 11,199 people living homeless the night of Jan. 25, which is 913 fewer than were counted in 2018. King County's All Home conducts the count on one night each year, but cautions that the figures provide a snapshot and are likely an under-count.

Deeper in the data, there were a number of fluctuations, especially around gender and racial groups. But that demographic data can be highly variable in a sample-based survey like the point-in-time count, All Home cautioned. Along with the figures released Thursday, All Home unveiled a dashboard that uses more reliable data from the Homeless Management Information System.

Here are some other changes in between the 2019 and 2018 point-in-time counts:

More homeless women: The share of homeless women increased from 33 percent in 2018 to about 40 percent this year, according to the figures.

Increase among racial groups: There was an increased number of homeless Native Americans, black people, Asians, and Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders in this year's count. Meanwhile, white and Latino numbers decreased. The hard numbers are highly variable, but All Home said that the 2019 count shows that people of color continue to make up a disproportionate share of the homeless population.

Emergency shelter increase: More homeless were counted in emergency shelters this year — 4,065 compared to 3,585 last year. King County opened Harborview Hall about a month before the count, adding 100 beds to the local shelter system. Overall, 47 percent of homeless in the 2019 count were unsheltered.

Fewer people were counted in transitional housing in 2019. This might be because some transitional housing units have been converted into permanent housing, including "projects that have changed to a rapid re-housing or permanent supportive housing model," All Home said.

More transgender homeless: The number of homeless transgender people more than doubled to 217 in the 2019 count.

Fewer homeless children: Volunteers counted 1,550 homeless under the age of 18 this year compared to 1,759 in 2019. All Home said new initiatives focused on school-age children, including a partnership with the state department of Children, Youth, and Families, may have helped in this area.

Fewer with substance abuse disorder: The 2019 count found 1,432 homeless with a substance use disorder compared to 2,324 in 2018. That includes a drop among the unsheltered from 1,844 to 833.

All Home Acting Director Kira Zylstra said the overall 8-percent drop in this year's count was likely a sign more people are getting services. But she cautioned there is still plenty to do.

"More people in our community are connected with services than ever before and permanent housing placements through our system continue to rise each year, yet more than 11,000 of our neighbors are without housing on any given night," Zylstra said in a statement. "Now is the time to take urgent action to scale what works for our neighbors experiencing homelessness."

The full Count Us In report is due at the end of May. That report will include more detailed analysis of the count, and a geographical breakdown of the homeless population.