Volunteers will head out across Sarasota and Manatee counties in late January to count the area’s homeless, data that will be used to determine funding levels both on a state and federal level.
Performed annually, the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness’ Point in Time survey, planned for a 24-hour period beginning Jan. 29, is just that — a snapshot of the numbers and characteristics of the area’s homeless population. It is not intended to capture an overall homeless population figure.
The survey, required by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development at least once every two years, seeks to count both sheltered and unsheltered people. The survey of unsheltered individuals is conducted by volunteers and partners throughout the Sarasota and Manatee Continuum of Care (Coc).
“(HUD) uses that information to find gaps in our system, to find what type of population we have (of homeless individuals), either families, single adults, and sub-populations like veterans or those fleeing domestic violence,” said Kevin Stiffs, Chief Executive Officer of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness.
In 2023, the count connected with 1,150 people, according to data from the Partnership, which was not far off from the 2022 count of 1,138. Going as far back as 2016, though, close to 1,500 people were accounted for, dropping to around 1,200 in 2018 and to a low of 526 in the COVID-19 year of 2021, when the Partnership was unable to survey the unsheltered populations due to social distancing.
Throughout the years, children have been counted on their own, alongside adults and adults with children. In 2016, 20 people under 18 were counted. In 2022, that number was six.
Most of the homeless people surveyed are white men, data shows. In 2023, 205 participants reported substance abuse, 231 reported some level of mental-health issues and 166 identified themselves as disabled veterans. In 2016, in comparison, 422 reported substance abuse, 168 reported mental health issues and 389 said they were disabled veterans.
“It’s only as accurate as the individuals we can find in that 24-hour period,” Stiff said. “This isn’t a definitive number, but a snapshot of what we have in our community.”
Finding people to count, this year digitally instead with paper and pencil, isn’t always easy, said Taylor Neighbors, the chief administrative officer of the Suncoast Partnership to End Homelessness.
“I would say that sometimes, historically, clients that have been on the streets a number of years will hear that the count is taking place or that people will be coming out to assess them, and they may leave their campsite and go elsewhere,” Neighbors said. “Sometimes, the weather can also be a factor. Those who get a limited income from Social Security or disability, if it’s a cold night, they may go into a hotel when they’re typically on the street… Sometimes the weather will drive people into the shelters, and our numbers will be inflated.”
Data from the survey typically is collected and assembled into a report by April, Neighbors and Stiff said, but with the advent of digital collection this time around, trends and findings should be easier to assemble. That could allow more time for funding requests and member initiatives within the Continuum of Care, they said.
“In the past, we’ve had to recruit a number of volunteers to come in and manually enter all of the data,” Neighbors said. “It’s going to be nice that the data is already going to be there, and we can simply sort through it - make sure there’s not any kind of duplicated clients or unnecessary data that was collected.”
Stiff said the surveys through the years have gone a long way toward developing funding solutions for those in need.
“Hopefully our service providers, philanthropists, and others will help us to identify the gaps in the system, and possible funding streams to help resolve those issues,” Stiff said.
Catherine Hicks is a reporter for the Community News Collaborative. She can be reached at chicks@cncfl.org.
