A survey of the homeless population in the Washington, D.C., metro area found a 14 percent spike in people experiencing homelessness last year, despite declines in all other areas surrounding the District.
The drastic increase in overall homelessness includes a 32 percent increase among parents and children. The Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments’ (MWCOG) annual survey found a third of the Metro area’s homeless are children and over half of the area’s homeless struggle with drug addiction and mental health problems, reports NBC Washington.
In sharp contrast to the increase in D.C., homelessness decreased sharply in almost every surrounding county, according to the survey. Homelessness fell 27 percent in Arlington County, 16 percent in Alexandria, 20 percent in Loudoun County and even 2 percent in Prince Georges County.
The survey counted anyone living on the street, in transitional housing, in permanent supportive housing and those in emergency shelters, reports The Washington Post. Officials say the sharp spike is due to D.C.’s unique policy towards the homeless of rarely turning away people from shelters, even if they are from a neighboring state.
“We never say, especially during ‘right to shelter’ [hypothermia season], that there is no space, we cannot provide that to you,” Laura Zeilinger, head of the D.C. Department of Human Services told NBC4. “Other jurisdictions, that isn’t their policy.”
“We are in the midst of a very serious affordable-housing crisis,” Kate Coventry, from the liberal D.C. Fiscal Policy Institute told The Washington Post. “It’s worrying that there is not a greater investment.”
Mayor Muriel Bowser enacted policy last year to expand access to shelters for the city’s homeless. The policy allowed for roughly 464 homeless families to shelter before winter weather hit the city. An additional 1,000 homeless individuals used shelters during extremely cold nights.
Zeilinger told The Washington Post, “We were able to help families earlier, and because of that, we know that we are providing better services and support than in previous years, and that’s important.”
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