(The Center Square) – The One Seattle Homelessness Action Plan’s first count of 2023 reveals the verified homeless tent count is down 42% from the end of last year.
The latest count conducted in March by the city found 414 tents within the city limits. That is down from 712 counted in December 2022. The SODO District had the most tents and RVs counted with 158 combined.
The city attributes the drop in tent numbers to its recently-launched Unified Care Team, alongside its partnership with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority. According to the city, its Unified Care Team facilitated 1,831 referrals to shelters and tiny house villages last year, with the help of the authority and 30 outreach providers.
The city also counted 320 RVs which is a drop from 449 that were recorded last December.
The King County Regional Homelessness Authority’s 2022 point-in-time count reports that there were 13,368 homeless people in the county. That is a 12% increase from 2020’s count of 11,751. However, the authority notes that the mandatory point-in-time count is “widely understood to be an undercount, especially as it represents a single night rather than a full year.”