King County fully canvased for homeless count

Hundreds of volunteers hit the streets of King County overnight to take part in the annual homeless count.

Count organizer Mark Puttnam says this year volunteers counted each census tract Thursday night and Friday morning.

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“We really did a full-county canvas,” Puttnam told KIRO Radio. “In years past, we’ve counted known areas, areas where we knew people were experiencing homelessness. This year, we decided we needed to broaden that and look county wide.”

Puttnam says the other difference is they used volunteers who have or are homeless. They are doing a more comprehensive report this time around, so he doesn’t expect to have numbers until spring.

If the latest numbers from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are any indication, there’s a chance the count will once again find more people living on the street.

Washington homelessness rose by more than 7 percent last year, according to the Department of House and Urban Development. There were about 1,400 more people sleeping outside and in shelters. The increase is the second highest in the country, falling behind California, the Associated Press reported.

In all, there were 20,827 homeless people counted in Washington, according to the Department of House and Urban Development.

Homelessness has grown in the Seattle-King County area while it has reportedly dropped in Everett-Snohomish County, Tacoma-Pierce County, Spokane, Yakima, Vancouver-Clark County and the rest of Washington.

During last year’s homeless count, volunteers found the number of people living outside or in shelters increased by 19 percent over 2015. According to a KIRO Radio staff report, the number of people living in unsheltered homes in Seattle and King County increased from 3,772 in 2015 to about 4,500 in 2016.

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