Connecticut homelessness is down 10 percent

We know this because the annual Point-In-Time count says so.

Taken earlier this year, the PIT numbers  just got crunched, and they are — in a lame word —  encouraging. I’ve been hanging around policy types for too long to use words like “awesome” or “fabulous,” though those are the words that seem a better fit.

From Lisa Tepper Bates, executive director at Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (and the emphasis is mine):

• Total Homeless Population Lowest Counted In A Connecticut PIT: 4,038 total individuals counted – the lowest ever statewide Connecticut Point-In-Time count.

• Sheltered Homelessness Down By 4%: 3,412 people were counted in shelters and similar facilities – a drop of 4% over 2014.

• Unsheltered Homelessness Down 32%: The count found 626 unsheltered individuals, a decrease of 32% since the last unsheltered count in 2013.

• Substantial Progress Toward Ending Veteran Homelessness: Only 80 veterans were counted in emergency shelters; 161 veterans were in transitional housing programs which aim to assist veterans with plans to return to permanent housing.

• Family Homelessness Down:  There were 445 families in shelters and similar facilities in 2015, a 4% decrease since 2014.  The number of individuals in unsheltered families dropped by 67% since the last unsheltered count in 2013.

• Chronic Homelessness Down Significantly: The number of people experiencing chronic homelessness dropped by 21% since 2014.

Note that chronic homelessness is down by 21 percent already, and after the state’s 100-day challenges focused on bringing those numbers down even more, imagine what we’ll look like this time next year, when people like Sal Pinna and others have been safely and stably housed. And how do we do that? We give them a key that opens an apartment, and we supply all the support services necessary — a process that is still infinitely less expensive (and more humane) than ignoring them.

We are doing it, as a state. We are ending homelessness, but least we attempt to rest on our laurels, the PIT for the first time ever counted homeless and runaway youth and found  that there are as many as 3,000 young people (age 24 and younger) who are homeless or unstably housed. That’s anywhere from 2,783 and 3,075 young people who are getting a really lousy start in life. So we have work to do, but we’ve proven we can do it. We just have to have the will.

You can read the full report here. Onward.