His fellow presenter, Amber Kramer, Service Integration Program Coordinator, walked the commissioners (minus Craig Pope who was absent) through the results of the annual Point in Time Count conducted Jan. 23. She said the federal Department of Housing and Development (HUD) just requires volunteers to contact as many homeless people as possible in one given night and ask them where they slept.

“We created a questionnaire unique to rural Polk County in addition to HUD,” Kramer said. “We also asked, ‘do you already have a connection to the community you’re sleeping in?’ It really allowed us to collect more robust data.”

She added volunteers couldn’t just go out and find people sleeping on the street, “because we know rural Polk County does not look like downtown Salem or Portland.” Her survey accounted for those who were also doubling up, couch surfing, sleeping in RVs, or experiencing other barriers to safe and secure housing.

The Family & Community Outreach used four different methods to conduct the survey:

A Community outreach event “Community Connect” on Jan. 24 – Kramer said the successful event drew more than 290 people with 45 social service agencies providing services, like haircuts, food and Oregon Health Plan applications. They collected more than 70 surveys from that event alone.

Community Partnerships – The county worked with food banks, school districts, code enforcement, law enforcement, behavioral health, medical offices, libraries, warming shelters and churches to complete the survey with clients they were already working with.

“We offered training unique to those sites so we could offer the survey in a trauma informed way. That means they’ve already developed relationships with people experiencing homelessness so they could complete the survey in a conversational way,” Kramer explained.

Attended Community Events – Polk County sent volunteers to Falls City produce distribution, Iskam Med Med-Haws mobile pantry in Grand Ronde, the Ella Curran Food Bank distribution in Independence, and a pop-up event at the Falls City Community Center.

“So, we met people where they were at,” Kramer said.

Street and Camp Outreach – The traditional method. Kramer said several groups of volunteers walked around and talked to people in Grand Ronde, Willamina, Independence, Monmouth, Dallas and Falls City. They also drove around to isolated areas of Polk County and located some small camps.

“When we located anyone in these areas, we offered coffee, donuts, and warming supplies. We were not just walking up and saying we want to ask how homeless you are,” she added.

Through their expanded four methods, Polk County was better able to determine the number of people experiencing homelessness or who were at risk and found 91 were unsheltered, 43 were sheltered, and 46 at risk, which included receiving an eviction notice or a feeling of being unsafe in their current home.

Of the unsheltered, 43% were chronically homeless (defined as being homeless more than once in lifetime or for longer than a year) and 48% reported mental health impacted their ability to maintain employment or housing.

DeMoe explained there probably was a jump in the number of homeless in Polk County due to COVID and other things.

“We don’t truly think the jump was from 25 to 91 in 12 months. It was we just did a much better job owning the Point in Time count ourselves and just doing a different method,” he said, adding there was another important reason for improving their methodology. “If we’re able to take that data and share it with other partners, we get the most comprehensive picture on who these folks are and where they’re at in any point of continuing service.”

For example, he said Community Corrections was able to compare the 500 people that are on parole and probation in Polk County. There were 132 that told their probation officer they were homeless. The PIT count captured some of those folks, too, DeMoe said.

“That data was also given to Behavioral Health and they were able to tell us 40 people have chronic mental health and are seeking treatment through Behavioral Health,” he said. “So, we are able to put together extra meaning to the kind of data we’re going to be able to gather to see what can be done to address homelessness. Get people out of unsheltered situations and into something different.”

Commissioner Lyle Mordhorst, congratulating DeMoe’s team on their efforts, was still curious if he was able to estimate the number or percentage they still missed.

DeMoe said he took the average of volunteers who said they contacted a lot and those who said not many and estimated it at around 150 total homeless in Polk County. He added all the data excludes West Salem. Their data extends just west of Highway 51.

Chair Jeremy Gordon was impressed how their methodology provided a very rich source of information.

“The really neat thing is you guys got additional information that will actually help people, navigate them to services. It’s functional. It’s not just counting for counting sake,” he said.

DeMoe pointed to another benefit to the survey, saying they were able to debunk the myth that homeless were originating elsewhere and coming to Polk County. Their results showed 84% had ties to the community, i.e., attended school, had friends or family here, or previously lived in the community.

“It’s a misnomer that people are coming here who aren’t from here,” DeMoe said. “Except for the warming centers we do, there’s no overnight places to stay, there’s not food every day, no soup kitchens. There’s not a lot of services you see in urban areas. We find people are not coming to Polk County to sleep outside and receive an MRE occasionally. This is where they’re from.”

He then pointed to the county’s ongoing effort to reduce the number of homeless. DeMoe said last year, Kramer convened a group of stakeholders, with 40-60 people coming to six meetings, once a month, to talk about these issues. The group is reconvening in April to share the Point in Time data and $14 million granted through the Multi-Agency Coordination group to combat homelessness. DeMoe added there has been a lot happening on the homeless front, from the Ediger Hall Shelter the county is working to develop with the Dallas Alliance Church to the Community Actions Program for Monmouth Youth.

“There’s been a lot happening in the last few months and definitely more to come,” DeMoe said. “Data is at the heart of it. If you don’t know the population you’re trying to help, it’s going to be harder to help without learning a lot more about it. I think that’s our biggest hope.”