A new statewide report shows homelessness continues to rise across Oregon, disproportionately affecting communities of color and rural communities and leaving 22,000 children in Oregon without a place to call home.
The 2023 Oregon Statewide Homelessness Estimates is released by the Portland State University's Homelessness Research & Action Collaborative (HRAC). It aggregates and expands on annual Point in Time, or PIT, count data previously released on a county level.
The PIT count chronicles the number of people experiencing homelessness on the street on a single night, with an acknowledgement from the report that it is likely an undercount and does not capture the full scope of homelessness in the state. The PIT count accounts for unsheltered homeless people but does not take into account those who are couch surfing, living in motels or hotels, or living in a vehicle. The 2023 PIT count captured its data the week of Jan. 25-31, 2023, with volunteers asking survey participants where they slept the night of Jan. 24, 2023.
Expanded data
The expanded report contains PIT count data and Housing Inventory Count, which is data on housing and shelter beds.
Multnomah, Washington and Clackamas counties released their 2023 PIT count data on May 10, 2023.
Multnomah County had the greatest number of homeless people in the state at 6,297 people. The report counted nearly 4,000 unsheltered people sleeping on the streets. There were 1,821 people sleeping in shelters and 532 people in transitional housing, meaning 62.6% of the county’s homeless population was unsheltered.
Multnomah County had a total of 3,149 shelter beds, leaving a deficit of 3,148. Unsheltered homelessness in Multnomah County increased by 29% between 2022 and 2023.
Despite Multnomah County having the highest total number of homeless people and a majority of that population unsheltered, the disparity was more severe in some rural Oregon counties. Deschutes, Lane, Polk, Clatsop, Columbia, Coos, Curry, Douglas, Grant, Josephine, Lake, Sherman, Tillamook, Union and Wheeler counties all reported an unsheltered homeless population greater than 70%.
Some rural counties, including Wheeler, Sherman, Lake and Harney counties, where total homeless populations numbered in the tens or dozens, reported no shelter beds at all.
Demographic disparities
While the PIT count provided an overview of the federally mandated data collected in its May 2023 release, the new report provides an expanded analysis of the demographics and disparities in homeless populations.
The report shows those who identified as Indigenous, American Indian or Alaska Native were overrepresented in the homeless population at a rate of 2.43 times their population share statewide. The disparity was even worse in Multnomah County, where the rate was 3.53 times higher, and worse still in Jefferson County at 4.48 times greater.
In Multnomah County, Indigenous peoples make up less than 2% of the total population but 5.1% of the homeless population.
Other communities of color were also overrepresented in the population — those identifying as Black, African American or Black African were overrepresented at a rate of 2.89. For Native Hawaiians and Pacific Islanders, the rate was four times higher.
The report found the largest disparities often occurred in rural counties, but the total number of people affected was “often fewer than 10 people.”
The disparities extend to unsheltered homelessness. Those identified as Native or Indigenous represented 5.34% of the population of unsheltered homeless people in Multnomah County, and those identified as Black made up 17.88%.
Marisa Zapata, director of PSU's HRAC, said in a January presentation on homelessness the demographics follow a national trend.
“In Oregon, we particularly see this disproportionate rate with Native Americans and African American and Black community members,” Zapata said. “These are dramatic, disproportionate representations. “
Homeless children
According to Oregon Department of Education (ODOE) data, nearly 4%, or 22,903, of preK-12 schoolchildren in Oregon were homeless during the 2022-2023 school year. Multnomah County again reported the highest total number of homeless schoolchildren at 3,495, though the nine districts with the highest rates of homelessness among schoolchildren were all rural.
McKenzie School District in rural Lane County reported the highest rate of homelessness among schoolchildren at a rate of 24%. McKenzie School District encompasses small rural towns nestled along the McKenzie River, several of which were severely damaged in the devastating 2020 Holiday Farm Fire. Despite assurances from the state, subsidized replacement housing for the displaced has been painfully slow to materialize, leaving many fire survivors homeless or forced to relocate.
Arlington School district in rural Gilliam County reported the second highest rate of homeless children at 22% of students.
The report found that 3,496 children experienced unaccompanied homelessness in Oregon, meaning they were not in the physical custody or company of a parent or legal guardian.
The ODOE data comes from the McKinney-Vento Assistance Act, which requires schools to report the total number of children believed to be experiencing homelessness each year. The definition of homelessness accounted for in McKinney-Vento is more expansive than the criteria used during the PIT count, as it includes students who are “doubled-up,” which it defines as students sharing housing due to loss of housing or economic hardship, those living in hotels, motels, trailer parks or camping grounds due to lack of alternative housing, those abandoned at hospitals and those awaiting foster care. As a result, the ODOE count is higher than PIT count data, capturing a more expansive picture of homelessness and housing instability.
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