Indy point-in-time count finds 8% drop in homeless population

Indianapolis’ annual count of the homeless population has decreased to nearly pre-pandemic levels, according to this year’s point-in-time tally.

The 2023 count was conducted by the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention in partnership with the Indianapolis Continuum of Care. The count is part of federally mandated Housing and Urban Development reporting.

The 2023 count found 1,619 homeless individuals, a decrease of 8% from 1,761 in 2022 and down 16% from a pandemic high of 1,928 in 2021. The largest category of homeless individuals was those in emergency shelter, 1,036 people. Unsheltered people numbered 357, and 226 people were in transitional housing.

This year’s number was just just 52 more than in 2019, when 1,567 individuals were counted. At the same time, the city saw a sharp increase in chronically homeless individuals and continues to have a disproportionate number of homeless Black individuals, according to the report.

While fewer homeless individuals were counted overall, there was a 77% increase over  the previous year in unsheltered homeless people and a 133% increase in unsheltered Black individuals.

This increase might be partly due to three methodology changes implemented this year, the report says.

This year, local police department and additional outreach workers were included in teams that counted unsheltered individuals; surveys were conducted during mealtimes at a community partner meal site; and an electronic survey portal was implemented, eliminating paper surveys.

Black people continue to be disproportionately overrepresented in the count, at 52%, while the city’s Black population was just 28% in the 2020 U.S. Census. This disparity has decreased slightly since 2022, when Black homeless individuals accounted for 56% of the count.

The count also found an 130% increase in individuals experiencing chronic homelessness. The report attributes the shift mostly to a change in definition to align more with federal definitions.

“Chronically homeless” individuals are defined by experiencing a year or more of continuous homelessness or four or more stints of homelessness in the last three years totaling over a year; reporting a disability; or being in a household where one member is chronically homeless.

There were 328 chronically homeless individuals counted this year compared with 139 in 2022.

Additionally, the count found decreases since last year’s count in unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness (60%) and in families in emergency shelters or transitional housing (17%).

A slight increase in veterans experiencing homelessness was also found, at 9% more than 2022.

The CHIP study also conducted a housing inventory count to determine availability and usage of emergency shelter, transitional housing, permanent supportive housing  and rapid housing beds.

In emergency shelters, both the usage and total number of beds declined slightly, by 4% and 17% respectively. The report attributes this to either difficulty accessing the shelter system or hesitation among homeless individuals to stay in a shelter.

The city’s inventory of transitional housing beds declined 14%, but the usage increased by 7%.

Rapid rehousing beds, which are consistently full, saw an inventory decrease of 31% as COVID-19 programs ended. Those individuals and families have likely exited the program and transitioned to permanent housing vouchers.

Overall, the city had the most emergency shelter beds at 1,313, followed closely by permanent supportive housing beds at 1,209.