Delaware sees 35 percent increase in homelessness count

On behalf of the Delaware Continuum of Care, Housing Alliance Delaware conducted the 2021 Point in Time Count Jan. 27.

On that night, 1,579 people were experiencing homelessness in Delaware. This is a 35 percent increase from the 2020 PIT census of 1,165 people.

Due to COVID-19 safety concerns and logistical challenges, the 2021 PIT census did not include people who were unsheltered, meaning living in cars, encampments and other places not meant for human habitation. If people living in unsheltered situations were included, the number would have been even higher.

Each of the additional 414 people counted as homeless in 2021 were people in families with children. Some 243, or 58 percent, of the additional people were children under age 18.

Of the people experiencing homelessness on the night of the 2021 count, 61 percent were Black. As this racial group makes up only 22 percent of Delaware’s general population, Black people and families are far overrepresented in the homeless population. In Delaware, families with children headed by a Black adult are eight times more likely to experience homelessness than families with a white head of household.

In 2020, COVID-19 significantly impacted the homeless response in Delaware. Congregate emergency shelter beds decreased by more than 100. In addition, bed utilization was at an all-time low of 48 percent on the night of the PIT, meaning more than half of congregate emergency beds in Delaware were not occupied. This was primarily due to the need to implement social distancing in high-risk congregate settings to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Many households were sheltered in hotels and motels through the Division of State Service Centers and nonprofit homeless assistance providers. Non-congregate sheltering is recommended by housing and public health experts, as it is far safer than sleeping in a congregate setting during COVID-19. This was especially true in January 2021 when transmission and hospitalization rates in Delaware were at all-time highs.

The 2021 PIT count showed 839 people were temporarily sheltered in a hotel or motel in Delaware, compared with 50 people in 2020. Also, many people stayed, and continue to stay, in hotels and motels for extended periods of time due to the lack of safe and affordable housing options in local communities.

Only 37 of those 839 people were being served by a rapid rehousing program in Delaware. Another 273 formerly homeless people were safely housed in their own apartments, continuing to receive support from rapid rehousing programs.

RRH is designed to help homeless households move quickly into rental housing by providing housing search help, rental assistance and housing stabilization services.

In 2020, Delaware jurisdictions allocated more than $1.5 million in U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development COVID relief funding to RRH programs. This is a significant investment, far beyond what is typically available in any given year. It is more critical than ever that Delaware take full advantage of these resources.

As RRH programs continue to scale up efforts to quickly rehouse homeless people and families, it is clear that the primary challenge is not a lack of short-term financial resources.

The staggering 35 percent increase in homelessness in Delaware is indicative of the affordable housing crisis facing the state. Housing remains out of reach for thousands of Delawareans, forcing far too many to rely on temporary shelter for far too long.

Delaware has a shortage of 20,000 affordable housing units for the lowest-income households, meaning those with incomes less than 30 percent of the area median income. Nationally, Delaware has the 17th highest housing wage in the country, meaning that the household income needed to afford a market-rate rental unit is the 17th highest in the nation.

The COVID-19 crisis has shed a bright light on the housing and homeless crises facing the state. Solving these problems requires significant and strategic investments in both the short-term crisis and the long-term solution, which is to ensure that everyone in Delaware has access to housing.