Homelessness in Fort Collins, Colorado - July 2014 - June 2015 - Homeward 2020
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Homelessness in
Fort Collins, Colorado
July 2014 – June 2015
Released October 2015 | www.homeward2020.org
Table of Contents
_________________________________________________________________
Introduction……………………………………………………………………………………. 3
National and State Trends on Homelessness……………………………………………... 4
Fort Collins Point-in-Time Survey…………………………………………………………… 5
Family Homelessness………………………………………………………………… 5
Veteran Homelessness………………………………………………………………. 5
Chronic Homelessness………………………………………………………………. 5
Additional Information About Homelessness in Fort Collins…………………… 6
Fort Collins Project Homeless Connect…………………………………………………….. 9
Data from Poudre School District…………………………………………………………… 10
Data from Local Housing and Service Providers………………………………………….. 11
Permanent supportive housing…………………………………………………….. 11
Rapid re-housing……………………………………………………………………... 11
Transitional housing………………………………………………………………….. 12
Shelter…………………………………………………………………………………. 12
Outreach and gear…………………………………………………………………… 13
Employment…………………………………………………………………………… 13
Homelessness prevention and rental assistance…………………………………. 13
Other services………………………………………………………………………… 13
Conclusions and Trends……………………………………………………………………… 14
Definitions……………………………………………………………………………………… 15
12
Introduction to the 2015 Report on Homelessness in Fort Collins
____________________________________________________________________
Homeward 2020 provides leadership in Fort Collins around the goal of making homelessness
rare, short-lived, and non-recurring. This leadership role involves improving data collection
efforts and working with stakeholders to translate data findings into actionable steps.
This data report is the first of what will become an annual report highlighting those indicators
that can help the community more comprehensively understand the current state of
homelessness in Fort Collins. By pulling in data from annual surveys and events as well as
local providers, we can have a more complete and nuanced assessment of homelessness
to better direct our collective work to those strategies that can have the biggest impact.
The primary data sources tapped for this report are the following:
• The Point-in-Time Survey: The Point-in-Time (PIT) is an annual survey conducted
during the last 10 days of January. Over the course of 24 hours, volunteers survey
everyone they can find who is staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or
outside in unsheltered areas. Demographic information, disability status, veteran
status, information on length of time homeless, and information on why people
believe they are homeless are some of the types of information collected in the PIT.
• Project Homeless Connect: Project Homeless Connect (PHC) is a one-day, one-stop-
shop event intended to connect people experiencing homelessness or at-risk of
homelessness to needed resources. While the primary function of PHC is service
delivery, the event provides a valuable opportunity to better understand the needs
of those who are homeless or near homelessness in Fort Collins.
• Data from Poudre School District: Poudre School District serves students experiencing
homelessness as part of requirements of the federal McKinney-Vento Act. To qualify
for services under McKinney-Vento, students must lack a regular, fixed nighttime
residence. That definition is broader than the one used in the PIT survey. In addition
to those sleeping in shelters or outside, it includes students and family members who
are doubled up with friends/families or living in a motel. As a result, data from the
schools provides valuable and otherwise-unavailable information on families,
children, and youth who are homeless in Fort Collins.
• Data from Local Service Providers: Most shelter, housing, and service providers in Fort
Collins collect reliable data on the number of people served. By collecting these
data points each quarter, seasonal trends can be better identified. The local
providers that submitted data for this report include Catholic Charities, the Fort
Collins Rescue Mission, Faith Family Hospitality, Homeless Gear, the Murphy Center,
the Fort Collins Housing Authority, Neighbor to Neighbor, SummitStone Health
Partners, Homelessness Prevention Initiative, the Larimer County Workforce Center,
the Matthews House, and Volunteers of America.
In addition to these local data, relevant data from state and national sources are also
provided. A dictionary of commonly-used terms is also included at the end of this report.
For questions about these data and this report, please contact Vanessa Fenley, Director of
Homeward 2020, at 970.235.0202 or Vanessa@homeward2020.org.
3National and State Trends in Homelessness
________________________________________________________________________________
Overall trends in homelessness
Nationally, over 578,000 people experience homelessness1 on a single night and were
surveyed as part of the Point-in-Time Count in 2015. Over one-third of all people
experiencing homelessness are living in families with children. Overall, from 2013 to 2014,
homelessness in the U.S. declined by 2%, with unsheltered homelessness declining by 10%.
In Colorado, more than 10,000 people are homeless on any given night. Approximately 45%
of that total is represented by families with children. There was an almost-20% increase in
homelessness among individuals (i.e., not living in a household with children) in Colorado
from 2013 to 2014.
Trends for family homelessness
• Nationally, the number of homeless families decreased by 5% from 2013 to 2014
• The number of unsheltered families declined by around 20% from 2013 to 2014
• In Colorado, approximately 645 children and youth are homeless on a single night
Trends for veterans
• Nationally, 11% of all adults who are homeless are veterans
• The number of homeless veterans nationwide declined by 10% from 2013 to 2014
• Almost 50,000 veterans nationwide are still homeless, including 753 in the state of
Colorado
Trends for chronic homelessness
• Nationally, over 84,000 individuals exhibit chronic patterns of homelessness; over
1,300 of these individuals live in Colorado
• Two-thirds of individuals who are chronically homeless stay in unsheltered locations
• Chronic homelessness declined by 3% nationwide from 2013 to 2014
Trends for unaccompanied children and youth
• Nationally, over 45,000 unaccompanied children and youth (24 years old or
younger) were surveyed during the 2014 Point-in-Time
o Almost 14% of these youth were under the age of 18
• 6% of all children (under 18) who were homeless were unaccompanied, meaning
they were not living in a family situation
• 66% of all youth (18 – 24) who were homeless were unaccompanied
• Unaccompanied children (under age 18) are more likely to stay in unsheltered
locations than in shelters
• Rates of homelessness among unaccompanied children and youth declined by less
than 1% nationwide from 2013 to 2014
• Colorado saw a 27% increase in homelessness among unaccompanied children and
youth from 2013 to 2014
___________________________________
1 All national and state statistics include only those households qualifying as chronically homeless, 4
meaning they reside outside in unsheltered areas, in emergency shelters, or in transitional housing.Fort Collins Point-in-Time (PIT) Survey
__________________________________________________________________
On a single night in January, 301 individuals residing in Fort Collins were surveyed as part of
the PIT. This corresponds to approximately 0.19% of Fort Collins’ total population. Only
individuals staying outside in unsheltered areas, in emergency shelters, or in transitional
housing programs were surveyed.
Family Homelessness
• 30 families with children were surveyed during the PIT
o Two of these families were staying outside, in unsheltered locations
• 61 children (under the age of 18) were counted, representing over 20% of Fort Collins’
total homeless population
• Family homelessness has remained relatively steady since 2013
Veteran Homelessness
• 32 individuals identified as veterans during the 2015 PIT survey
• Half of the veterans surveyed also qualified as chronically homeless
• After decreasing from 2013 to 2014, rates of veteran homelessness more than
doubled from 2014 to 2015
o Given the small total number of homeless veterans, the cause of this increase
is difficult to determine, but may be due to inaccuracies in entering data,
additional people identifying as veterans given multiple questions asked
regarding military service (instead of one question asking if the person is a
veteran), or a real increase in veteran homelessness in the Fort Collins area
• Since January 2015, at least 22 veterans in Fort Collins are no longer homeless due to
local permanent supportive housing and rapid re-housing programs
Chronic Homelessness
• 68 people qualified as chronically homeless during the 2015 PIT survey
• Chronically homeless individuals represented almost 40% of everyone staying outside,
in unsheltered locations, but less than 20% of those staying in emergency shelters or
transitional housing programs
Number of people experiencing homelessness, Total number of individuals/households
sheltered and unsheltered in special population groups
(2013-2015) (2013-2015)
350 80
_________________________________________________________________
300 70 Households
with Children
60
250
50
200 Total
Veterans
40
Sheltered
150
Unsheltered
30
100
20
Individuals
50 10 Experiencing
Chronic
0 0 Homelessness
2013 2014 2015 2013 2014 2015
5Fort Collins Point-in-Time Survey:
Additional Information About Homelessness in Fort Collins
__________________________________________________________________
H om elessn ess a nd M obility
• A little over half of household heads surveyed for the PIT Survey reported they moved
here after becoming homeless; over half of those households that moved here did so
to look for employment or to be closer to family and friends
6R ea sons Peop le are H ome less
• People cited a variety of reasons they felt led to their current states of homelessness
o For women, the most commonly cited reasons were lost housing/lack of
affordable housing or family issues/family break-up
o For men, the most commonly cited reason was loss of job or unemployment
L eng th of Tim e H ome less
• The median length of homelessness for all survey respondents was 210 days (about 7
months)
o For individuals experiencing chronic homelessness, the median length of
homelessness was 545 days (around 1.5 years)
o For individuals experiencing episodic or transitional homelessness, the median
length of homelessness was 180 days (around 6 months)
7E m ploy m ent an d E d ucation
• Over 26% of respondents earn income through employment
o Of those who are employed, around 73% are employed only part-time,
seasonally, or off-the-books
o Only 27% are employed full-time
o Among all who are employed, the median hourly wage is $8.50
• Around 55% of respondents earned their high school diploma (or equivalent) or did
not complete high school
o Around 18% of respondents have earned an associate’s, a bachelor’s, or a
professional/graduate degree
o Among the 7 respondents earning a professional or graduate degree, six qualify
as chronically homeless
H ea lth a nd D isa bilitie s
• Almost 42% of all individuals surveyed have at least one long-term, disabling
condition; this can include physical disabilities, mental health or substance use
disorders, developmental disabilities, brain injuries, post-traumatic stress disorder, or
chronic illnesses
o The most commonly-reported disabling conditions were chronic physical
disabilities or illnesses, severe mental illnesses, and post-traumatic stress disorders
• 65% of respondents reported visiting the emergency department at least once in the
past year
o Around 21% of respondents visited the emergency department more than 3
times in the past year
o Of the individuals who visited the emergency department more than 3 times in
the past year, over half qualified as chronically homeless
O ther Risk F actors a nd Vu ln erab ilities
• 25 individuals stated they had been part of the foster care system as children; 12 of
those individuals now qualify as chronically homeless
• There is a weak, positive correlation between being chronically homeless and being a
victim of a violent episode
_____________________________________________________________________
The 2016 Point-in-Time Survey is scheduled for the night of January 26 and day of January 27,
2016. For information on how to volunteer with these efforts, please visit
www.homeward2020.org.
8Fort Collins Project Homeless Connect
• Project Homeless Connect served a mix of individuals who were in their own homes
but may be at-risk of homelessness, who were staying doubled up or in a motel, and
who were sleeping outside or in shelters
• 40% of attendees first experienced homelessness in Larimer County
• 44% of attendees had been homeless for at least a year
• 37 people identified as veterans; 21 of them were staying in shelters or outside (i.e.,
qualified as “literally” homeless)
• Households' mean monthly income was around $807 (median income was $707)
• 1/4 of attendees were employed
• 43% of attendees were receiving some form of government assistance
_____________________________________________________________
The next Fort Collins Project Homeless Connect is scheduled for April 8,2016 at the Northside
Aztlan Community Center. For more information about Project Homeless Connect, visit
www.homeward2020.org. To learn more about volunteering at Project Homeless Connect,
visit www.slice.colostate.edu/project-homeless-connect.aspx.
9Poudre School District
• The McKinney-Vento program at Poudre School District served 1100 students
qualifying as homeless during the 2014 – 2015 school year; this corresponds to about
4.2% of the total student population in the district
• Students and their families are considered homeless if they are staying outside
(including in cars), in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs, in motels
or hotels they are paying for, or doubled up with friends or family
o 80% of students are staying doubled up with friends or other family members
• Almost half of all students who are homeless are elementary-school age (grades K-5)
• Around 13% of all students experiencing homelessness are unaccompanied,
meaning they are not living with a family member or legal guardian
10Data from Local Service and Housing Providers (July 2014 – June 2015)
______________________________________________________________
Trends in Perma ne nt S upportive H ous in g
• Permanent supportive housing may be an apartment in a building designated as
permanent supportive housing (a single-site model) or a voucher used in the
community that comes with accompanying supportive services; to qualify as
permanent supportive housing, a housing unit (whether an apartment or a housing
voucher) must be time-unlimited and must offer supportive services to the resident
• Since permanent supportive housing is time-unlimited, there is less turnover than in
other forms of housing or shelter
o PSH providers kept programs at capacity, filling vacant units quickly with
residents in need of permanent supportive housing
o Despite a tight rental market, between 90% and 95% of all VASH vouchers
(vouchers designated for veterans) were utilized throughout the year
(meaning the voucher had been issued to the veteran and s/he had used the
voucher to lease an apartment); vouchers that were not “utilized” were often
issued to a veteran, but given the market, the process of leasing up and
moving into an apartment frequently took at least a few weeks
• Typically, 1 – 2 new residents were able to move into the single-room occupancy
(SRO) units (27 units total in the community) each quarter; the single-room
occupancy units are managed by Catholic Charities
• In addition to 23 people who moved into the permanent supportive housing
apartments at Redtail Ponds in the first half of 2015 (the remaining residents moved
into their apartments in July or August 2015), five other individuals who had been
homeless moved into one of the affordable (but not PSH-designated) apartments at
Redtail Ponds; Redtail Ponds is owned and managed by the Fort Collins Housing
Authority
Trends in Ra pid Re-H ousing
• Rapid re-housing provides short- to medium-term rental assistance along with
supportive services to households in need of only temporary assistance to move out
of homelessness
• The number of households served through Neighbor to Neighbor’s First Month’s Rent
program declined slightly throughout the year, from a high of 36 households served
from the July – Sept 2014 quarter to 23 households served in the April – June 2015
quarter
• Volunteers of America’s Supportive Services for Veteran Families provided rapid re-
housing assistance to 17 veteran households in Fort Collins over the course of the year
o 13 of these households were provided assistance in late 2014; only 4
households were able to utilize rapid re-housing assistance here in Fort Collins
in the first half of 2015 (additional veteran households served may have found
housing in Loveland, Greeley, or other surrounding areas)
o VOA’s staff reports it continues to be difficult for people to find housing, even
with financial assistance and some staff support, in Fort Collins
• One Village One Family (a program of Homeless Gear) launched in 2015; from
January – June 2015, three families found housing through the OVOF program
11Trends in Tra nsitiona l H ousing
• SummitStone Health Partners consistently served around 5 people per quarter in its
transitional housing program
• The Matthews House HOST Home program served, on average, 8 households per
quarter with short-term places to stay in host homes
• Transitional housing is generally seen as a less efficient and no more effective housing
option than permanent supportive housing or rapid re-housing
o Federal and state policy and funding are now encouraging communities to
implement more permanent housing options over transitional housing options
o Certain populations, like youth, may still be served well by transitional housing
programs
Trends in Shelter
• Catholic Charities served, on average, 343 unduplicated individuals each quarter
with shelter
o The most individuals were served in the Jan – March 2015 quarter as a result of
Catholic Charities opening up additional beds in its own facility and off-site to
meet the needs of the community during the coldest winter months
o Around 100 individuals (both single adults and families) could be provided
shelter each night in the facilities Catholic Charities managed during the
winter 2014 – 2015
o Additional families requiring shelter could also be provided with shelter
through motel vouchers
• While under capacity (on average) during the latter half of 2014, the Fort Collins
Rescue Mission was consistently at or over capacity (on average) by the April – June
2015 quarter, serving around 80 – 84 people per night
o Over the course of a year, the Fort Collins Rescue Mission serves approximately
1,000 unduplicated individuals with shelter
• Faith Family Hospitality (a shelter program for families) can serve four families at any
one time
o Most quarters, about eight families total utilize the shelter services of Faith
Family Hospitality
o About half of the families who exit the program exit to their own permanent
housing, while the other half either leave the program voluntarily or are asked
to leave
12Trends in O utre ach a nd G ea r
• Homeless Gear provides access to support and to needed resources through their
street outreach program, and through quarterly distribution events geared toward
families (a partnership with the Matthews House)
• Through street outreach, Homeless Gear makes contact with, on average, 529
unduplicated individuals each quarter
o The reach of the outreach program declines during the colder fall and winter
months
o During the warmer summer months, street outreach volunteers make contact
with over 600 individuals each quarter
• On average, 124 families each quarter were provided clothing, school supplies, and
other basic necessities through distribution events; not all families served at the
distribution events are experiencing homelessness
Trends in Em ployme nt
• Of the clients served by the Larimer County Workforce Center, around 116 individuals
each quarter (on average) identify as homeless
• Over the course of the year, a total of 139 jobs were secured by clients of the Hand
Up program at Homeless Gear
Trends in Hom e le ssnes s Preven tion a nd Ren ta l As sistance
• Over the course of the year, Homelessness Prevention Initiative provided 566
households with rental assistance; 64 of those households required two rounds of
rental assistance to help stay in their housing
• On average, Neighbor to Neighbor provided around 25 households each quarter
with emergency rental assistance
• Five veteran households total over the course of the year requested and received
homelessness prevention services from the VOA SSVF program
Trends in O th er Se rvices
(servin g both individu als wh o a re h om eless an d those w ho are not e xperiencing
hom ele ssnes s)
• On average, around 90 Fort Collins’ households utilized Neighbor to Neighbor’s
housing search assistance each quarter
• Around 824 unduplicated individuals, on average, access services at the Murphy
Center each quarter
o On average, around 297 of those individuals each quarter are new clients
• The Dedicated Navigator program moved under Homeless Gear’s umbrella in 2015;
in one quarter (April – June 2015), 144 applications to receive public benefits were
submitted through the Dedicated Navigator program
13Conclusions and Trends
__________________________________________________________
• Now that we have three years of data from the PIT, we can start making more
definitive statements about the rates of homelessness in Fort Collins and how they are
changing
• Based on the raw PIT numbers collected to date, it looks like homelessness has
increased from 2013 to 2015
o 250 in 2013, to 289 in 2014, to 301 in 2015
o This upward trend, however, parallels overall population growth in Fort Collins.
The percentage of Fort Collins’ residents identified as homeless has not
changed significantly since 2013.
§ 0.16% of the population in 2013, to 0.19% of the population in 2014, then
remaining relatively steady at 0.19% of the population in 2015
• Seasonal trends in service usage and the total number of people served exist
o For example, Catholic Charities expectedly serves more individuals during the
winter months
o Outreach (where individuals are contacted outside) serves fewer people total
during the winter months
• While the data collectively presented here can help paint a more complete picture
of homelessness in Fort Collins than what can be taken from any one data source,
Fort Collins will continue to improve its understanding of homelessness through the
implementation of a Homelessness Management Information System
14Definitions
____________________________________________________________________
Chronic homelessness: The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development defines
someone as being chronically homeless if they 1) have a long-term disabling condition, and
2) have either experienced homelessness continuously for a year or more or have had four
or more episodes of homelessness in the past three years. Chronic homelessness can affect
unaccompanied individuals or families, if the head of household meets the chronic
definition.
Episodic homelessness: Someone is episodically homeless if they cycle infrequently in and
out of homelessness (in other words, not frequently enough to qualify as chronically
homeless).
Literal homelessness: A term used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban
Development to describe individuals who are without housing and who are staying either in
unsheltered areas or in emergency shelters or transitional housing programs. Individuals
staying doubled up or in motels they are paying for do not qualify as being literally
homeless.
Permanent supportive housing: Time-unlimited housing assistance, with accompanying
supportive services. Permanent supportive housing can either be scattered-site, meaning
individuals use housing vouchers to rent on the private market, or can be single-site,
meaning there is a single apartment building dedicated (partly or wholly) to housing
individuals who have moved out of homelessness.
Rapid re-housing: Short- to medium-term (up to 24 months) rental assistance (most
frequently used to rent on the private market), with accompanying supportive services.
Rapid re-housing can either be the resource to end a household’s homelessness
permanently, or can serve as a bridge to receiving a more permanent subsidy, if needed.
Transitional homelessness: Someone is transitionally homeless if they are homeless for only a
short time, and often experience only one homeless episode.
Transitional housing: A single building used to house individuals temporarily, for up to two
years, while supportive services are provided to help individuals secure future housing and
regain stability.
Shelter: Temporary, short-term, and minimal accommodations intended to provide a safe
and warm place to sleep.
Unaccompanied youth: A youth (up to age 24) who is homeless and is not living on their
own, without family or a guardian.
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