New Data Dashboard Reveals More People Are Becoming Homeless than Escaping It, Exposing a Growing Crisis That’s Likely Playing Out Nationwide
In the Oregon county surrounding Portland, new numbers show that a greater number of people are becoming homeless than the number of people being housed. This is unlikely to be an issue exclusive to Multnomah County, but many other cities are not as diligent at tracking and publishing their numbers.
Multnomah County listed 14,864 people experiencing homelessness:
- 6,796 unsheltered
- 4,860 in shelter
- 3,208 in unknown circumstances
Anna Plumb, the deputy director of the Multnomah County Homeless Services Department, explained the problem simply by saying, “What we see is that people are entering homelessness faster than we are putting people in housing.”
New Data Dashboard Displays Deficits
These numbers were collected using a newly implemented system that seeks to capture data about more of the people using homeless services who may otherwise fall through the cracks.
Under the new system, data will be logged after just about any interaction a person has with the homeless service system as a whole. It’s not limited to shelter stays and participation in programs. Instead, it expands to keep a record of a person’s visits to navigation centers, conversations with outreach workers, or use of mail collection points The system also logs when a person secures permanent housing and when they’re receiving rent assistance to get a full picture of their time spent homeless in the county…