LAKE COUNTY, Calif. – The results are in from Lake County’s first comprehensive look at homelessness.
Last Friday, Jan. 25, Lake County conducted the count as part of the eight-county Dos Rios Continuum of Care, a partnership of private and public agencies working to provide services for the homeless or those at risk of becoming homeless, as Lake County News has reported.
All homeless continuums are required by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development, or HUD, to conduct a “point-in-time” count of homeless individuals and families during a specified week each year.
According to Lake County’s point-in-time count on Jan. 25, approximately 188 homeless individuals were reported around the county.
That breaks down as follows: Clearlake/Clearlake Oaks, 109; Lakeport, 37; Lucerne, 27; Kelseyville, 11; Middletown, three; and Upper Lake, one.
Based on the most recent estimate by the U.S. Census Bureau of Lake County’s population – 64,323 – the homeless documented in this month’s count amounts to 0.29 percent of the county’s total population.
That’s lower than California’s 0.36 percent rate but higher than the nationwide rate of 0.21 percent, according to www.statehealthfacts.org , a project of the Kaiser Family Foundation. Those numbers are based on findings for 2010, the most recent year analyzed.
Organizers currently are in the process of putting the information into a database so they can look at it more closely.
The conclusion so far, however, is that it illustrates that a need for services for the homeless does exist in Lake County, which has no homeless shelter.
The results provide an important baseline for local groups to plan for meeting the needs of Lake County’s homeless, according to organizers.
Gloria Flaherty, executive director of Lake Family Resource Center, one of the participating agencies, said the count will help qualify them for grants through HUD.
Flaherty said the local continuum committee looks for funding opportunities and collaborates on the development of proposals.
HUD reported last month on the final nationwide results of the January 2012 point-in-time homeless count, reporting that there was a slight decline in homelessness in 2012 based on reports from more than 3,000 cities and counties.
Among veterans and those experiencing long-term or chronic homelessness, HUD reported a 7-percent drop in homelessness in 2012.
Email Elizabeth Larson at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow her on Twitter, @ERLarson, or Lake County News, @LakeCoNews.