Fewer people are living on the streets in Snohomish County than a year ago, and fewer are homeless overall, according to initial data collected during the county’s Point in Time homeless count.
On Thursday, volunteers from north, central, east and south Snohomish County joined in the effort to count homeless people over 12 hours, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m.
The tally, a state and federal requirement, is done annually to help Snohomish County receive a proportionate share of funding to fight homelessness.
This year’s total showed 2,249 people without a permanent place to stay, down 113 from last year’s total of 2,362. That’s a 4.7 percent decline.
Thursday’s numbers, still incomplete, also showed that 583 people reported living on the street, compared to 615 who said they were without shelter in 2010. There were 1,354 people sheltered the night of the count; last year that number was 1,403.
And 312 people are listed this year as “precariously housed,” staying with others, while a year ago that number was 344.
Of all those counted this year, an estimated 798 were homeless children under 18.
While the number of homeless individuals is down, there was a slight increase in homeless households, from 1,335 in 2010 to 1,365 this year. A household can be a single person.
A similar One Night Count in King County early Friday found 2,442 people living on the streets, which didn’t include an estimated 6,000 staying in shelters and transitional housing. A press release from the Seattle/King County Coalition for the Homeless said this year’s count showed a reduction of about 11 percent in the number of people without shelter.
Here, county staff and a community Homeless Policy Task Force will study and verify the data over the next month. Christopher Schwarzen, a spokesman for the county executive’s office, said numbers are expected to change after a detailed review of data from shelters and transitional housing sites.
In Lynnwood, Maria Bighaus of YWCA Pathways for Women was involved in the count. She said that although the total of homeless people may be down, she noticed more families on the street.
Bighaus is director of housing services for the agency. The count in south county was headquartered at Trinity Place apartments, part of the YWCA’s low-income housing network.
“As we were putting in data, we saw more families living in their cars, and lot more families on the streets as opposed to couch surfing,” Bighaus said.
Julie Muhlstein: 425-339-3460; muhlstein@heraldnet.com.
By the numbers
Volunteers around Snohomish County Thursday counted the number of people who are homeless. According to incomplete data:
2,249: Total homeless in 2011
1,354: Living in shelters
583: Living on the street
2,362: Total homeless in 2010
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