More than half of the region’s homeless population is living in the District, even as the overall population has dipped slightly over the last year, a new report shows. The city’s share — 6,954 of the total 11,830 homeless — also represents a 15 percent growth in its overall homeless population over the past five years, according to the report released Wednesday by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ Homeless Services Planning and Coordinating Committee.
Meanwhile, the homeless population in the region’s suburbs has shrunk by as much as 17 percent.
| Homeless count | ||
| 2012 | % yearly change | |
| Alexandria | 352 | -15% |
| Arlington Co. | 451 | -2% |
| D.C. | 6,954 | 6% |
| Fairfax Co. | 1,534 | -1% |
| Frederick Co. | 285 | 2% |
| Loudoun Co. | 164 | 5% |
| Montgomery Co. | 982 | -13% |
| Prince George’s Co. | 641 | -17% |
| Prince William Co. | 467 | -17% |
| TOTAL | 11,830 | -0.4% |
| Source: Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments | ||
The concentration in the city reflects the higher cost of living in the District and the fact that more resources are available for the city’s poor, said Michael Ferrell, chair of COG’s Homeless Services Committee, who presented the report to the board of directors.
Ferrell said afterward that about 85 percent of those counted as homeless in the District are families on welfare.
“These are individuals who are extremely low-income who cannot afford housing without some kind of subsidy.” Ferrell said.
During his presentation, Ferrell said the annual homeless count was a tool for jurisdictions to measure their progress with programs designed to create more living-wage jobs and housing for all income levels.
Steve Berg, of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, said the decrease in the suburban homeless population was a reflection of the “aggressive” programs some jurisdictions had put in place to tackle the issue.
But some board members from suburban counties met those numbers with skepticism.
“We would love to tout [that] our numbers are down 17 percent in Prince George’s County, but that’s just not the story,” said Andrea Harrison. “And we can’t adequately service those individuals … if we don’t have the accurate numbers.”
