FY 2017 Maine Homeless Statistics - HMIS Emergency Shelter Data (7/1/2016 – 6/30/2017) In Maine, approximately 98% of people who experience homelessness show up in emergency shelters. Two percent or less stay outside or in places unfit for human habitation. Both are counted by HMIS Emergency Shelter Data summarized here. Statewide total Highlights: 6,373 Unique clients (vs. 7,020 unique clients in FY 16) • 66% Individuals Ø 6,373 people were homeless in • 33% Families 2017 vs. 7,020 people in 2016, a • 9% Youth 18-24 9% reduction. • 1% Unaccompanied Youth under 18 Ø There was a 21% decrease in the average length of stay in Changes from previous year homelessness in 2017 vs. 2016. Compared to FY 2016, in FY 2017 there were significant reductions: Ø There was a 14% decrease in • 9% reduction in people experiencing homelessness (647 less Veterans experiencing people) homelessness in 2017 vs 2016. • 21% reduction in the average length of time clients remain in homelessness Ø There has been a 73% decrease in • 14% decrease in Veterans experiencing homelessness single adult Long Term Stayers since 2013: 70 people in 2017 vs Homeless Veterans 262 in 2013. Maine is making progress on the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) criteria and benchmarks for ending Veteran homelessness. As of June 30th, 2017, only 77 people remain on the By-Name List. Additionally, there has been a 14% decrease in homelessness and a 10% decrease in chronic homelessness among homeless Veterans between 2016 and 2017. Long Term Stayers (LTS) *see below for history/explanation Overall, LTS represent 1.6% of the overall population, down from 5% of the population in 2013. • 70 LTS were single individuals, down from 87 in July 2016, a 20% decrease. • 29 LTS were people within homeless families, up from 17 in July 2016 (a 71% increase), but this also represents a 51% decrease from 2015 (when there were 59 people). 300 262 53% Single Adult LTS reduction between 2013 and 2015 29% Single Adult LTS reduction between 2015 and 2016 250 200 122 150 20% Single Adult LTS reduction between 2016 and 2017 87 100 70 0 2013 2015 2016 Single Adults 2017 71% Family LTS increase between 2016 and 2017 59 17 0 50 71% Family LTS reduction between 2015 and 2016 2013 2015 2016 29 2017 Families *Family LTS increased between 2013 and 2015, and 2016 and 2017, likely due to interruptions in the supply of Section 8 caused by sequestration. Urban LTS Statistics In 2017 there were 84 LTS in urban locations (85% of the total LTS). 60 percent were in Portland and Bangor (50% Portland, 10% Bangor). By city: Augusta – 5 (down from 13 in 2016) Lewiston – 0 (the same as in 2016) Bangor – 9 (up from 6 in 2016) Portland – 50 (down from 55 in 2016) Brunswick – 18 (up from 2 in 2016) Waterville – 2 (up from 0 in 2016) Rural LTS Statistics As of June 30th, 15 LTS (15% of the total LTS) were in rural locations. Rural shelters are defined as any program based in a community which is not listed as urban (Augusta, Bangor, Brunswick, Lewiston, Portland, and Waterville). Unlike urban shelters, all rural shelters serve families, and none serve single adults exclusively. *Long Term Stayers (LTS) were originally defined as people staying over 180 cumulative days in shelters or outdoors within a 365-day period (cumulative). Because of the success in housing this population, the definition was amended in March 2016 to the longest stayer in homelessness inside or outside as determined by local shelters for all parts of Maine except Portland. Portland retained the original definition. This definition was created because HUD’s Chronic Homelessness definition did not work well in rural areas of Maine where single adults tend to bounce from shelter to shelter so that their lengths of stay in any one shelter did not meet the HUD definition of chronically homeless. (Chronically homeless were difficult to find. LTS have been far easier to find, and upon investigation 100% have also met the definition of chronic homelessness). Chronically homeless (and LTS) have tended to be almost exclusively single adults. Efforts began across the state in 2013 to prioritize resources to house the LTS population. In July 2013, when the LTS were first counted, there were 262 single adults that met the criteria. Since then, sequestration has reduced the supply of Section 8 in Maine, which, following a multiple decade pattern resulted in families languishing in homeless shelters. Since 2013, families have now entered the group of LTS, but their stays have just barely edged over 6 months. The single adult LTS population found in 2013 included a significant portion that had been homeless for years and even decades.