Sheltered | Unsheltered | Total | ||
ES | TH | |||
# of Persons | 129 | 20 | 91 | 240 |
# of Children | 20 | 4 | 3 | 27 |
# of Adults | 109 | 16 | 88 | 213 |
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Female | 69 | 6 | 29 | 104 |
Male | 59 | 12 | 60 | 131 |
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Trans/NB | 1 | 4 | 5 | |
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Indigenous | 5 | 8 | 13 | |
Asian | 3 | 3 | ||
African American | 40 | 3 | 10 | 53 |
White | 72 | 17 | 73 | 162 |
Multiple Races | 9 | 9 | ||
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Chronic | 63 | 45 | 108 |
Housing Inventory Count | |||||
Date of Count | ES Beds | PSH Beds | RRH Beds | TH Beds | Total Beds |
1/25/2024 | 134 | 77 | 5 | 29 | 245 |
1/26/2023 | 125 | 79 | 22 | 14 | 240 |
1/27/2022 | 108 | 93 | 73 | 12 | 286 |
1/28/2021 | 49 | 98 | 46 | 57 | 250 |
1/23/2020 | 69 | 90 | 22 | 51 | 232 |
1/24/2019 | 75 | 77 | 0 | 57 | 209 |
To receive the $654,000 in annual federal housing resources expended by our community the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities to make sure the resources are going to the most vulnerable, using a collaborative system called a Continuum of Care (CoC). In the last 10 days of January, all CoC’s conduct a count of the sheltered and unsheltered homeless in their service areas, a Point in Time Count (PIT). This count and a Housing Inventory Chart (HIC) are submitted to HUD in the last week of April.
The HUD Definition of homelessness for the PIT:
Unsheltered
Individuals and families sleeping in a place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation (e.g., abandoned buildings, train stations, or camping grounds)
Sheltered
People who are living in a place not meant for human habitation, in emergency shelter, in transitional housing, or are exiting an institution where they temporarily resided.
People who are losing their primary nighttime residence, which may include a motel or hotel or a doubled-up situation, within 14 days and lack resources or support networks to remain in housing.
Families with children or unaccompanied youth who have not had a lease or ownership interest in a housing unit in the last 60 or more days, have had two or more moves in the last 60 days, and who are likely to continue to be unstably housed because of disability or multiple barriers to employment.
People who are fleeing or attempting to flee domestic violence, have no other residence, and lack the resources or support networks to obtain other permanent housing.
The count does not include those who have no permanent residence and are staying with friends or family commonly known as doubling up or couch surfing or residing in a hotel/motel/fixed camp site, at their own expense, but have no fixed residence. The unsheltered count is limited to those that are found by the teams on the day of the count and who agree to participate.
Methodology of the PIT
The PIT is separated into two sections:
unsheltered, commonly referred to as street homeless,
sheltered, those who are utilizing emergency shelter (ES), transitional housing (TH) or Safe Haven (SH) resources. Our community does not have SH facilities.
The unsheltered count was conducted on January 25, 2024. It was planned by a committee of the CoC, in accordance with best practices, starting in the fall of 2023. The date of the count was set to coincide with the Oklahoma City count to prevent duplication of those who are transient between the two communities. The content of the survey was slightly modified form the 2023 survey to make it more readable.
Due to COVID-19 restriction no unsheltered count was conducted in 2020 and a limited count was conducted in 2022. The 2023 and 2024 counts are a full census of individuals in the community. Teams were sent to all municipal parks, public libraries, parking areas where those sleeping in cars are known to be and known encampment sites. The encampments sites were determined, in the weeks preceding the count, by case managers that provide homeless outreach services, CoC agencies that provide resources directly to those experiencing street homelessness, and in cooperation with local law enforcement agencies.
The count was conducted using a digital survey tool in the smart device app ArcGIS Survey123. This tool allowed for the uniform collection of information. This year the survey was given to the unsheltered and available to be given to those in emergency shelter. Training on the use of the app, was provided two days before the count in a session attended by all team leaders. The teams were comprised of two to three volunteers from CoC agencies and community volunteers. The nine teams were led by CoC members with prior experience in a count and went to 98 sites.
The survey asked the following questions:
Where they slept the previous night, if they were willing to participate, if they had already taken the survey today.
Identifying and demographic information – First name, last initial, date of birth, gender, ethnicity, and race. The members of their household with whom they are experiencing this instance of homelessness, with ages.
How long they have been experiencing homelessness, other recent incidents of homelessness, and zip code where they lived before becoming homeless.
Are they veterans, if they have experienced domestic violence (DV), a mental illness, substance abuse, or been diagnosed with HIV/Aids
Identifying questions are used to prevent duplication. Demographic and subpopulation questions are HUD reporting requirements. Length and instances of homelessness are used to determine if the person meets that HUD definition for chronically homeless.
The subpopulations with special reporting required by HUD are Veterans, unaccompanied Youth (ages 18 to 24), Chronically Homeless, Adults with Serious Mental Illness, Adults with Substance Use Disorder, Adults with HIV/AIDS, and Adult Survivors of Domestic Violence.
The agencies that provided reporting for the sheltered and or volunteers for the unsheltered count: Bridges of Norman, Norman Care-A-Vans, Catholic Charities – Women’s Sanctuary, City of Moore, Central Oklahoma Community Health, Food & Shelter, Hope Community Services, The Mission, Salvation Army, Thunderbird Clubhouse, Transition House, Veterans Affairs, Women’s Resource Center.
The By Name List
A By Name List (BNL) is a list of people in a community experiencing homelessness. It gives a view of homelessness across the entire community — and allows teams to work toward ending it. The tool gives communities concrete metrics to evaluate how its resources are being utilized and to make sure that the most vulnerable are prioritized for services.
The OK504 BNL is generated from a report in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). This is shared database of those receiving homelessness services. Agencies who receive HUD grants are required to utilize the system. The facilitator of the Coordinated Case Management (CCM) meeting pulls the report on a weekly basis and enters those who have new VI-SPDAT’s onto the list. The BNL is divided into six sections. The first section is for Families, the second section is Individuals who score a 5 or higher, the third section is for Veterans, the fourth section is for those in transitional housing, those that are incarcerated, those who are hospitalized, those in long-term emergency shelter (Systems of Care), & the fifth section is for those who are known homeless in our community but are not currently engaging in case management ( Outreach) and the sixth section is Inactive. The lists are reviewed at least once per month at CCM staffing. This allows case managers to coordinate services to those on the list and direct resources to those with the highest scores. The Vulnerabilty Index – Service Prioritization Decision Assistance Tool (VI-SPDAT or VI) is a series of questions that determine risk and prioritization when providing assistance those experiencing homelessness. The higher the score the greater the vulnerability. If a person has not actively engaged in services for 90 days they are inactivated from the list.
Nationally a BNL may be referenced as a comprehensive list of every person in a community experiencing homelessness. In our CoC it is a list of those experiencing homelessness who are actively engaged in case management or utilizing emergency shelter resources. Prioritization is given to families, Veterans, and the chronically homeless.
The HUD definition of chronically homeless is:
A homeless individual with a disability as defined in section 401(9) of the McKinney-Vento Assistance Act (42 U.S.C. 11360(9)), who:
Lives in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency shelter, and
Has been homeless and living as described for at least 12 months* or on at least 4 separate occasions in the last 3 years, as long as the combined occasions equal at least 12 months and each break in homelessness separating the occasions included at least 7 consecutive nights of not living as described.
An individual who has been residing in an institutional care facility for less, including jail, substance abuse or mental health treatment facility, hospital, or other similar facility, for fewer than 90 days and met all of the criteria of this definition before entering that facility**; or
A family with an adult head of household (or, if there is no adult in the family, a minor head of household) who meets all of the criteria of this definition, including a family whose composition has fluctuated while the head of household has been homeless.
*A “break” in homeless is considered to be 7 or more nights.
**An individual residing in an institutional care facility does not constitute a break in homelessness.
Comparing the BNL and PIT
The PIT is a snapshot of those experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. It is standardized reporting that is collected by every community using federal housing resources. It is a tool that can be used to provide comparable data on a regional and national level. This data is used by HUD to make data driven funding decisions. The BNL is a non-standardized local tool. The data of the BNL is current and the methodology of collecting it is determined by individual continuums. The data is used to make sure that resources are prioritized to the most vulnerable.
Housing Inventory Chart (HIC)
The HIC is a summary of all the housing resources provided in our community at the time of the count. As it includes permanent supportive housing resources it includes housed and unhoused individuals by HUD definition. The resources included in this year’s count are:
Emergency Shelter (ES) – a facility that’s primary purpose is to provide temporary or transitional shelter for the homeless in general or for specific homeless populations. In our CoC this is:
A congregate short term shelter site, A Friends House operated by Food and Shelter for individuals experiencing homelessness.
A congregate short term shelter site, The Salvation Army Shelter for individuals and families experiencing homelessness.
A congregate short term shelter site, Women’s Resource Center for women and children fleeing domestic violence, sexual violence, and stalking.
A non-congregate long term shelter site operated by Thunderbird Clubhouse for an individual, with a serious mental illness, experiencing homelessness.
Hotel / Motel rooms functioning as temporary shelters which are not paid for by the individual utilizing them. This resource is normally used for times of inclement weather, for families newly entered in systems of care, and for individuals who have health conditions which preclude them from safely utilizing congregate shelter. Depending on specific agency policy this resource may be reserved for those who have stable housing plans and are waiting for a unit, for which they have been approved, to become available. Food and Shelter provided hotels using ESG COVID funds the night of the count.
Transitional Housing (TH) - a project that is designed to provide housing and appropriate supportive services to homeless persons to facilitate movement to independent living. The housing is short-term, typically less than 24 months. In addition to providing safe housing for those in need, other services are available to help participants become self-sufficient. TH in our community is provided by Food & Shelter, Transition House and Mission Norman.
Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) – long term leasing or rental assistance that includes supportive services, including case management, to households with at least one adult or child member with a disability in achieving stable housing. PSH is provided in our community by Bridges of Norman, Catholic Charities Women’s Sanctuary, Food & Shelter, Hope Community Services, and Thunderbird Clubhouse
Rapid Re-Housing (RRH) - permanent housing that provides short-term (up to three months) and medium-term (4-24 months) tenant-based rental assistance and supportive services to households experiencing homelessness. RRH is provided in our community, using regular and COVID funding by, Central Oklahoma Community Mental Health Center, Food & Shelter and Thunderbird Clubhouse.
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