Homelessness in Fort Collins, Colorado

July 2014 – June 2015

Released October 2015 | www.homeward2020.org

Table of Contents _________________________________________________________________ Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………. National and State Trends on Homelessness……………………………………………... Fort Collins Point-in-Time Survey…………………………………………………………… Family Homelessness………………………………………………………………… Veteran Homelessness………………………………………………………………. Chronic Homelessness………………………………………………………………. Additional Information About Homelessness in Fort Collins…………………… Fort Collins Project Homeless Connect…………………………………………………….. Data from Poudre School District…………………………………………………………… Data from Local Housing and Service Providers………………………………………….. Permanent supportive housing…………………………………………………….. Rapid re-housing……………………………………………………………………... Transitional housing………………………………………………………………….. Shelter…………………………………………………………………………………. Outreach and gear…………………………………………………………………… Employment…………………………………………………………………………… Homelessness prevention and rental assistance…………………………………. Other services………………………………………………………………………… Conclusions and Trends……………………………………………………………………… Definitions………………………………………………………………………………………

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3 4 5 5 5 5 6 9 10 11 11 11 12 12 13 13 13 13 14 15

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Introduction to the 2015 Report on Homelessness in Fort Collins ____________________________________________________________________  Homeward 2020 provides leadership in Fort Collins around the goal of making homelessness rare, short-lived, and non-recurring. This leadership role involves improving data collection efforts and working with stakeholders to translate data findings into actionable steps. This data report is the first of what will become an annual report highlighting those indicators that can help the community more comprehensively understand the current state of homelessness in Fort Collins. By pulling in data from annual surveys and events as well as local providers, we can have a more complete and nuanced assessment of homelessness to better direct our collective work to those strategies that can have the biggest impact. The primary data sources tapped for this report are the following:

• The Point-in-Time Survey: The Point-in-Time (PIT) is an annual survey conducted during the last 10 days of January. Over the course of 24 hours, volunteers survey everyone they can find who is staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or outside in unsheltered areas. Demographic information, disability status, veteran status, information on length of time homeless, and information on why people believe they are homeless are some of the types of information collected in the PIT.

• Project Homeless Connect: Project Homeless Connect (PHC) is a one-day, one-stop-shop event intended to connect people experiencing homelessness or at-risk of homelessness to needed resources. While the primary function of PHC is service delivery, the event provides a valuable opportunity to better understand the needs of those who are homeless or near homelessness in Fort Collins.

• Data from Poudre School District: Poudre School District serves students experiencing

homelessness as part of requirements of the federal McKinney-Vento Act. To qualify for services under McKinney-Vento, students must lack a regular, fixed nighttime residence. That definition is broader than the one used in the PIT survey. In addition to those sleeping in shelters or outside, it includes students and family members who are doubled up with friends/families or living in a motel. As a result, data from the schools provides valuable and otherwise-unavailable information on families, children, and youth who are homeless in Fort Collins.

• Data from Local Service Providers: Most shelter, housing, and service providers in Fort

Collins collect reliable data on the number of people served. By collecting these data points each quarter, seasonal trends can be better identified. The local providers that submitted data for this report include Catholic Charities, the Fort Collins Rescue Mission, Faith Family Hospitality, Homeless Gear, the Murphy Center, the Fort Collins Housing Authority, Neighbor to Neighbor, SummitStone Health Partners, Homelessness Prevention Initiative, the Larimer County Workforce Center, the Matthews House, and Volunteers of America.

In addition to these local data, relevant data from state and national sources are also provided. A dictionary of commonly-used terms is also included at the end of this report. For questions about these data and this report, please contact Vanessa Fenley, Director of Homeward 2020, at 970.235.0202 or Vanessa@homeward2020.org.

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National and State Trends in Homelessness ________________________________________________________________________________ Overall trends in homelessness Nationally, over 578,000 people experience homelessness1 on a single night and were surveyed as part of the Point-in-Time Count in 2015. Over one-third of all people experiencing homelessness are living in families with children. Overall, from 2013 to 2014, homelessness in the U.S. declined by 2%, with unsheltered homelessness declining by 10%. In Colorado, more than 10,000 people are homeless on any given night. Approximately 45% of that total is represented by families with children. There was an almost-20% increase in homelessness among individuals (i.e., not living in a household with children) in Colorado from 2013 to 2014. Trends for family homelessness

• Nationally, the number of homeless families decreased by 5% from 2013 to 2014 • The number of unsheltered families declined by around 20% from 2013 to 2014 • In Colorado, approximately 645 children and youth are homeless on a single night

Trends for veterans

• Nationally, 11% of all adults who are homeless are veterans • The number of homeless veterans nationwide declined by 10% from 2013 to 2014 • Almost 50,000 veterans nationwide are still homeless, including 753 in the state of

Colorado Trends for chronic homelessness

• Nationally, over 84,000 individuals exhibit chronic patterns of homelessness; over 1,300 of these individuals live in Colorado

• Two-thirds of individuals who are chronically homeless stay in unsheltered locations • Chronic homelessness declined by 3% nationwide from 2013 to 2014

Trends for unaccompanied children and youth

• Nationally, over 45,000 unaccompanied children and youth (24 years old or younger) were surveyed during the 2014 Point-in-Time

o Almost 14% of these youth were under the age of 18 • 6% of all children (under 18) who were homeless were unaccompanied, meaning

they were not living in a family situation • 66% of all youth (18 – 24) who were homeless were unaccompanied • Unaccompanied children (under age 18) are more likely to stay in unsheltered

locations than in shelters • Rates of homelessness among unaccompanied children and youth declined by less

than 1% nationwide from 2013 to 2014 • Colorado saw a 27% increase in homelessness among unaccompanied children and

youth from 2013 to 2014

___________________________________ 1 All national and state statistics include only those households qualifying as chronically homeless, meaning they reside outside in unsheltered areas, in emergency shelters, or in transitional housing.

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Fort Collins Point-in-Time (PIT) Survey __________________________________________________________________ On a single night in January, 301 individuals residing in Fort Collins were surveyed as part of the PIT. This corresponds to approximately 0.19% of Fort Collins’ total population. Only individuals staying outside in unsheltered areas, in emergency shelters, or in transitional housing programs were surveyed. Family Homelessness

• 30 families with children were surveyed during the PIT o Two of these families were staying outside, in unsheltered locations

• 61 children (under the age of 18) were counted, representing over 20% of Fort Collins’ total homeless population

• Family homelessness has remained relatively steady since 2013 Veteran Homelessness

• 32 individuals identified as veterans during the 2015 PIT survey • Half of the veterans surveyed also qualified as chronically homeless • After decreasing from 2013 to 2014, rates of veteran homelessness more than

doubled from 2014 to 2015 o Given the small total number of homeless veterans, the cause of this increase

is difficult to determine, but may be due to inaccuracies in entering data, additional people identifying as veterans given multiple questions asked regarding military service (instead of one question asking if the person is a veteran), or a real increase in veteran homelessness in the Fort Collins area

• Since January 2015, at least 22 veterans in Fort Collins are no longer homeless due to local permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing programs

Chronic Homelessness

• 68 people qualified as chronically homeless during the 2015 PIT survey • Chronically homeless individuals represented almost 40% of everyone staying outside,

in unsheltered locations, but less than 20% of those staying in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs

_________________________________________________________________

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

2013 2014 2015

Total

Sheltered

Unsheltered

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

2013 2014 2015

Households with Children

Veterans

Individuals Experiencing Chronic Homelessness

Number of people experiencing homelessness, sheltered and unsheltered

(2013-2015)

Total number of individuals/households in special population groups

(2013-2015)

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Fort Collins Point-in-Time Survey: Additional Information About Homelessness in Fort Collins __________________________________________________________________

Homelessness and Mobil ity

• A little over half of household heads surveyed for the PIT Survey reported they moved here after becoming homeless; over half of those households that moved here did so to look for employment or to be closer to family and friends

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Reasons People are Homeless

• People cited a variety of reasons they felt led to their current states of homelessness o For women, the most commonly cited reasons were lost housing/lack of

affordable housing or family issues/family break-up o For men, the most commonly cited reason was loss of job or unemployment

Length of Time Homeless

• The median length of homelessness for all survey respondents was 210 days (about 7 months)

o For individuals experiencing chronic homelessness, the median length of homelessness was 545 days (around 1.5 years)

o For individuals experiencing episodic or transitional homelessness, the median length of homelessness was 180 days (around 6 months)

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Employment and Education

• Over 26% of respondents earn income through employment o Of those who are employed, around 73% are employed only part-time,

seasonally, or off-the-books o Only 27% are employed full-time o Among all who are employed, the median hourly wage is $8.50

• Around 55% of respondents earned their high school diploma (or equivalent) or did not complete high school

o Around 18% of respondents have earned an associate’s, a bachelor’s, or a professional/graduate degree

o Among the 7 respondents earning a professional or graduate degree, six qualify as chronically homeless

Health and Disabil it ies

• Almost 42% of all individuals surveyed have at least one long-term, disabling condition; this can include physical disabilities, mental health or substance use disorders, developmental disabilities, brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, or chronic illnesses

o The most commonly-reported disabling conditions were chronic physical disabilities or illnesses, severe mental illnesses, and post-traumatic stress disorders

• 65% of respondents reported visiting the emergency department at least once in the past year

o Around 21% of respondents visited the emergency department more than 3 times in the past year

o Of the individuals who visited the emergency department more than 3 times in the past year, over half qualified as chronically homeless

Other Risk Factors and Vulnerabil it ies

• 25 individuals stated they had been part of the foster care system as children; 12 of those individuals now qualify as chronically homeless

• There is a weak, positive correlation between being chronically homeless and being a victim of a violent episode

_____________________________________________________________________ The 2016 Point-in-Time Survey is scheduled for the night of January 26 and day of January 27, 2016. For information on how to volunteer with these efforts, please visit www.homeward2020.org.

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Fort Collins Project Homeless Connect

• Project Homeless Connect served a mix of individuals who were in their own homes but may be at-risk of homelessness, who were staying doubled up or in a motel, and who were sleeping outside or in shelters

• 40% of attendees first experienced homelessness in Larimer County • 44% of attendees had been homeless for at least a year • 37 people identified as veterans; 21 of them were staying in shelters or outside (i.e.,

qualified as “literally” homeless) • Households' mean monthly income was around $807 (median income was $707) • 1/4 of attendees were employed • 43% of attendees were receiving some form of government assistance

_____________________________________________________________ The next Fort Collins Project Homeless Connect is scheduled for April 8,2016 at the Northside Aztlan Community Center. For more information about Project Homeless Connect, visit www.homeward2020.org. To learn more about volunteering at Project Homeless Connect, visit www.slice.colostate.edu/project-homeless-connect.aspx.

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Poudre School District

• The McKinney-Vento program at Poudre School District served 1100 students qualifying as homeless during the 2014 – 2015 school year; this corresponds to about 4.2% of the total student population in the district

• Students and their families are considered homeless if they are staying outside (including in cars), in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs, in motels or hotels they are paying for, or doubled up with friends or family

o 80% of students are staying doubled up with friends or other family members • Almost half of all students who are homeless are elementary-school age (grades K-5)

• Around 13% of all students experiencing homelessness are unaccompanied, meaning they are not living with a family member or legal guardian

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Data from Local Service and Housing Providers (July 2014 – June 2015) ______________________________________________________________ Trends in Permanent Supportive Housing

• Permanent supportive housing may be an apartment in a building designated as permanent supportive housing (a single-site model) or a voucher used in the community that comes with accompanying supportive services; to qualify as permanent supportive housing, a housing unit (whether an apartment or a housing voucher) must be time-unlimited and must offer supportive services to the resident

• Since permanent supportive housing is time-unlimited, there is less turnover than in other forms of housing or shelter

o PSH providers kept programs at capacity, filling vacant units quickly with residents in need of permanent supportive housing

o Despite a tight rental market, between 90% and 95% of all VASH vouchers (vouchers designated for veterans) were utilized throughout the year (meaning the voucher had been issued to the veteran and s/he had used the voucher to lease an apartment); vouchers that were not “utilized” were often issued to a veteran, but given the market, the process of leasing up and moving into an apartment frequently took at least a few weeks

• Typically, 1 – 2 new residents were able to move into the single-room occupancy (SRO) units (27 units total in the community) each quarter; the single-room occupancy units are managed by Catholic Charities

• In addition to 23 people who moved into the permanent supportive housing apartments at Redtail Ponds in the first half of 2015 (the remaining residents moved into their apartments in July or August 2015), five other individuals who had been homeless moved into one of the affordable (but not PSH-designated) apartments at Redtail Ponds; Redtail Ponds is owned and managed by the Fort Collins Housing Authority

Trends in Rapid Re-Housing

• Rapid re-housing provides short- to medium-term rental assistance along with supportive services to households in need of only temporary assistance to move out of homelessness

• The number of households served through Neighbor to Neighbor’s First Month’s Rent program declined slightly throughout the year, from a high of 36 households served from the July – Sept 2014 quarter to 23 households served in the April – June 2015 quarter

• Volunteers of America’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families provided rapid re-housing assistance to 17 veteran households in Fort Collins over the course of the year

o 13 of these households were provided assistance in late 2014; only 4 households were able to utilize rapid re-housing assistance here in Fort Collins in the first half of 2015 (additional veteran households served may have found housing in Loveland, Greeley, or other surrounding areas)

o VOA’s staff reports it continues to be difficult for people to find housing, even with financial assistance and some staff support, in Fort Collins

• One Village One Family (a program of Homeless Gear) launched in 2015; from January – June 2015, three families found housing through the OVOF program

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Trends in Transit ional Housing

• SummitStone Health Partners consistently served around 5 people per quarter in its transitional housing program

• The Matthews House HOST Home program served, on average, 8 households per quarter with short-term places to stay in host homes

• Transitional housing is generally seen as a less efficient and no more effective housing option than permanent supportive housing or rapid re-housing

o Federal and state policy and funding are now encouraging communities to implement more permanent housing options over transitional housing options

o Certain populations, like youth, may still be served well by transitional housing programs

Trends in Shelter

• Catholic Charities served, on average, 343 unduplicated individuals each quarter with shelter

o The most individuals were served in the Jan – March 2015 quarter as a result of Catholic Charities opening up additional beds in its own facility and off-site to meet the needs of the community during the coldest winter months

o Around 100 individuals (both single adults and families) could be provided shelter each night in the facilities Catholic Charities managed during the winter 2014 – 2015

o Additional families requiring shelter could also be provided with shelter through motel vouchers

• While under capacity (on average) during the latter half of 2014, the Fort Collins Rescue Mission was consistently at or over capacity (on average) by the April – June 2015 quarter, serving around 80 – 84 people per night

o Over the course of a year, the Fort Collins Rescue Mission serves approximately 1,000 unduplicated individuals with shelter

• Faith Family Hospitality (a shelter program for families) can serve four families at any one time

o Most quarters, about eight families total utilize the shelter services of Faith Family Hospitality

o About half of the families who exit the program exit to their own permanent housing, while the other half either leave the program voluntarily or are asked to leave

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Trends in Outreach and Gear

• Homeless Gear provides access to support and to needed resources through their street outreach program, and through quarterly distribution events geared toward families (a partnership with the Matthews House)

• Through street outreach, Homeless Gear makes contact with, on average, 529 unduplicated individuals each quarter

o The reach of the outreach program declines during the colder fall and winter months

o During the warmer summer months, street outreach volunteers make contact with over 600 individuals each quarter

• On average, 124 families each quarter were provided clothing, school supplies, and other basic necessities through distribution events; not all families served at the distribution events are experiencing homelessness

Trends in Employment

• Of the clients served by the Larimer County Workforce Center, around 116 individuals each quarter (on average) identify as homeless

• Over the course of the year, a total of 139 jobs were secured by clients of the Hand Up program at Homeless Gear

Trends in Homelessness Prevention and Rental Assistance

• Over the course of the year, Homelessness Prevention Initiative provided 566 households with rental assistance; 64 of those households required two rounds of rental assistance to help stay in their housing

• On average, Neighbor to Neighbor provided around 25 households each quarter with emergency rental assistance

• Five veteran households total over the course of the year requested and received homelessness prevention services from the VOA SSVF program

Trends in Other Services (serving both individuals who are homeless and those who are not experiencing homelessness)

• On average, around 90 Fort Collins’ households utilized Neighbor to Neighbor’s housing search assistance each quarter

• Around 824 unduplicated individuals, on average, access services at the Murphy Center each quarter

o On average, around 297 of those individuals each quarter are new clients • The Dedicated Navigator program moved under Homeless Gear’s umbrella in 2015;

in one quarter (April – June 2015), 144 applications to receive public benefits were submitted through the Dedicated Navigator program

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Conclusions and Trends __________________________________________________________

• Now that we have three years of data from the PIT, we can start making more definitive statements about the rates of homelessness in Fort Collins and how they are changing

• Based on the raw PIT numbers collected to date, it looks like homelessness has increased from 2013 to 2015

o 250 in 2013, to 289 in 2014, to 301 in 2015 o This upward trend, however, parallels overall population growth in Fort Collins.

The percentage of Fort Collins’ residents identified as homeless has not changed significantly since 2013.

§ 0.16% of the population in 2013, to 0.19% of the population in 2014, then remaining relatively steady at 0.19% of the population in 2015

• Seasonal trends in service usage and the total number of people served exist o For example, Catholic Charities expectedly serves more individuals during the

winter months o Outreach (where individuals are contacted outside) serves fewer people total

during the winter months

• While the data collectively presented here can help paint a more complete picture of homelessness in Fort Collins than what can be taken from any one data source, Fort Collins will continue to improve its understanding of homelessness through the implementation of a Homelessness Management Information System

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Definitions ____________________________________________________________________ Chronic homelessness: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines someone as being chronically homeless if they 1) have a long-term disabling condition, and 2) have either experienced homelessness continuously for a year or more or have had four or more episodes of homelessness in the past three years. Chronic homelessness can affect unaccompanied individuals or families, if the head of household meets the chronic definition. Episodic homelessness: Someone is episodically homeless if they cycle infrequently in and out of homelessness (in other words, not frequently enough to qualify as chronically homeless). Literal homelessness: A term used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to describe individuals who are without housing and who are staying either in unsheltered areas or in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs. Individuals staying doubled up or in motels they are paying for do not qualify as being literally homeless. Permanent supportive housing: Time-unlimited housing assistance, with accompanying supportive services. Permanent supportive housing can either be scattered-site, meaning individuals use housing vouchers to rent on the private market, or can be single-site, meaning there is a single apartment building dedicated (partly or wholly) to housing individuals who have moved out of homelessness. Rapid re-housing: Short- to medium-term (up to 24 months) rental assistance (most frequently used to rent on the private market), with accompanying supportive services. Rapid re-housing can either be the resource to end a household’s homelessness permanently, or can serve as a bridge to receiving a more permanent subsidy, if needed. Transitional homelessness: Someone is transitionally homeless if they are homeless for only a short time, and often experience only one homeless episode. Transitional housing: A single building used to house individuals temporarily, for up to two years, while supportive services are provided to help individuals secure future housing and regain stability. Shelter: Temporary, short-term, and minimal accommodations intended to provide a safe and warm place to sleep. Unaccompanied youth: A youth (up to age 24) who is homeless and is not living on their own, without family or a guardian.

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