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Oregon’s homeless population grows 6 percent in last two years

By Molly Harbarger, The Oregonian
Published: August 23, 2017, 11:03pm

Despite the roaring job market, more people are living on the streets or in shelters in Oregon than in 2015, according to data released Tuesday.

Statewide, 13,953 people were homeless, 6 percent more than the last time the official survey was conducted two years ago. Unlike in Portland, where shelter capacity has expanded, more of those people live under bridges, in fields and along sidewalks than in 2015.

Lane, Marion, Deschutes and Clatsop counties follow Multnomah in having the highest numbers of homeless people. Clatsop was the lowest of these with 682 homeless people counted out of a population of 38,632.

The federally mandated point-in-time count was done in January. Workers from cities, counties and homeless service nonprofits surveyed people, both in shelters and out. Multnomah County’s was delayed because of heavy snowstorms and cold snaps.

The results, compiled by the Oregon Housing and Community Services Department, don’t account for every homeless person in the state but are meant to indicate trends that federal and local officials use to allocate funding and resources.

Officials at the housing department said rising rents are behind the statewide increase in homelessness.

Many communities don’t have affordable housing to keep pace with the number of people who need it, they said.

“Tens of thousands of people are simply unable to afford these rising housing costs and have had to sleep in shelters, in their cars or on the street,” the report says.

Racial and ethnic minorities are affected at a higher rate than white people, the statewide data shows. For example, 4.1 percent of the Oregon homeless population identifies as Native American, whereas only 1.1 percent of all Oregonians are Native American. Likewise, African-Americans experience homelessness at three times their proportion of the state’s population.

Multnomah County’s point in time results for 2017 showed nearly 10 percent growth in the homeless population.

However, only 14 percent of the state’s homeless people said they suffer from mental illness and 12 percent say they abuse drugs or alcohol, compared to a majority of Portland’s homeless people who told surveyers they have these issues.

All of Oregon is seeing more families with children move on to the streets. One in four homeless people throughout the state reported they are part of a household with children. Most of those families lived outside, in cars or RVs, or doubled up — not in shelters.

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