Washoe County presents updated homeless-services data; officials stress need for more permanent housing

Dana Searcy, division director for Housing and Homeless Services at the Washoe County Human Services Agency, told the Board of County Commissioners on June 17 that the county has substantially expanded shelter capacity since homelessness services moved to the county in 2021 and has improved data collection — but that rising rents and a shortage of affordable units remain the primary barrier to reducing homelessness.

Searcy said the county has increased reporting into the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) from roughly 40% to more than 90% of programs, tripled single-bed shelter capacity from about 228 beds to more than 750, and placed more than 1,100 people into permanent housing through county programs since July 2023. "There is a lot of content in these slides. Definitely not gonna be able to do a lot of detail in 10 minutes, but I wanted to get this in front of you," Searcy said during her presentation.

The presentation included two new datasets the county is publishing: (1) the recorded origin of people who were already homeless when they moved into the area, and (2) a revised by-name list that counts people active in homelessness-related programs over a 90-day window rather than by a single-day point-in-time snapshot.…