Local agencies report sharp rise in families sleeping outside as shelter capacity lags

Summary

Shelter and nonprofit leaders told the committee that in 2024 about 2,200 families called the central access point for help, 697 were assessed to need emergency shelter and only 266 were placed; agencies counted 232 families sleeping outside in 2024 and said limited housing supply, lost longer‑term assistance and childcare gaps hinder exits to稳定

Four local providers told the Equitable Growth and Housing Committee that demand for family shelter far exceeds capacity and that the number of families sleeping outside rose sharply in 2024.

Representatives from Bethany House, Found House, Strategies to End Homelessness and the YWCA said the central access point (CAP) helpline received more than 2,200 family calls in 2024. Of those, 697 families were screened and determined to need emergency shelter; only 266 of those families were able to be admitted to emergency shelters, Kevin Finn said. "Only a little more than a third of the families that we determined really did need emergency shelter were actually able to come into a shelter," Finn said.

Finn and other presenters said outreach and improved counting increased the number of families found sleeping outside; in 2024 the providers counted 232 families sleeping outdoors, compared with past years when the count had not exceeded the high 20s. "That might explain a part of that increase,"…

Local agencies report sharp rise in families sleeping outside as shelter capacity lags

Summary

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