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SALT LAKE CITY — Overall homelessness in Utah climbed 7 percent between 2014 and 2015, according to data released Wednesday by state officials.
Families made up most of the increase, with their subpopulation growing by 17 percent, according to the statewide Homeless Management Information System or HMIS.
Tamera Kohler, director of the Utah Community Services Offices, said the increase among homeless families was most notable in Ogden and St. George, which likely coincides with the opening of new shelters in each community.
Increases in family homelessness are also tied to a shortage of affordable housing, low vacancy rates for rental properties — particularly units that are deeply affordable — and Utah's otherwise "robust economy has not filtered down to our really impoverished population yet," Kohler said.
HMIS is an unduplicated count of homeless people accessing shelters and transitional housing programs collected throughout the year and accounts for about 80 percent of shelters statwide. Domestic violence and rescue missions are not part of the count, however.
According to a report on numbers of homeless individuals presented to the State Homeless Coordinating Committee Wednesday afternoon, 13,114 people experienced homelessness in Utah in 2015, compared to 12,241 the previous year, an increase of 6.6 percent.
However, the latest Point-in-Time Count suggests a 7 percent decrease in overall homelessness in Utah, including a decrease in family homelessness.
"They seem to be very contrary," noted Salt Lake County Mayor Ben McAdams.
Ashley Tolman of the State Community Service Office said the Point-in-Time Count is a one-night snapshot of data, which is limited by time and parameters prescribed by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development.
"I think we're missing too many people," said Pamela Atkinson, community advocate. Homeless people who stay in hotels on their own dime or couch surf with friends aren't counted, she said.
Nonprofit agencies that rely on the count for funding decisions driven by the count don't get the benefit of a full accounting.
"I honestly think it’s time we, as a state, tackled HUD," Atkinson said. "It’s not inclusive, it’s exclusive."
Timing of the count
Another problem is the timing of the count, which occurs one night late in January, she said.
Some people who use homeless services and shelter most of the year leave the state during the coldest months. "There's a sizable chunk that don't like our winters," Atkinson said.
In the past, the state has released the result of the annual Point-in-Time Count each spring.
The count includes shelter numbers and surveys by volunteers of unsheltered people spending the night in cars, tents, parks, abandoned buildings and other places not intended for habitation.
This year's count was conducted on Jan. 28. The results are annualized for reporting purposes.
Changing definitions
The decrease in family homelessness in the Point-in-Time Count was attributed to changes in federal requirements. Kohler said some housing previously considered "transitional" was reclassified as "permanent," meaning families living there were not part of this year's count.
"While changing definitions may make it appear as though we have fewer families facing homelessness, the HMIS database shows us that we have more families staying in emergency shelters and using homeless services," said Kohler.
For people experiencing chronic homelessness, the Point-in-Time Count said the rate was flat, a decrease of 10 individuals compared to 2015, the actual number dropping from 178 to 168.
HUD's definition of chronic homelessness includes people who experience one episode of homelessness longer than one year or have had four episodes of homelessness in three years, and they have a disabling condition.
Of the entire population of homeless people in Utah, the chronic homeless make up less than 2 percent of the whole, but they are some of the most vulnerable and expensive individuals to serve, federal statistics show.
Homelessness will continue to be an area of focus for Utah, said Utah Lt. Gov. Spencer Cox.
"We have certainly made great strides, especially with chronic homelessness, and we need to apply the lessons that we've learned to other groups, like families," Cox said in a statement released Wednesday.
