Earlier this year, Local Profile reported that Dallas and Collin counties issued homelessness prevention programs to reduce the number of unhoused individuals in the area. On April 13, the nonprofit organization Housing Forward released the results of its annual point-in-time count conducted in January 2023 with some encouraging findings.
During the organization’s annual State of Homelessness Address event, president and CEO of Housing Forward Joli Angel Robinson announced that the 2023 count found 4,244 individuals experiencing homelessness in Dallas and Collin counties in one night, the lowest number in five years. Robinson added that this decrease in homeless people was the result of a boost in investment in additional rehousing resources.
According to the report, chronic homelessness rates more than doubled between 2021 and 2022, going from 11% in 2021 to 40% in just one year. These alarming numbers prompted the launch of the Dallas R.E.A.L. Time Rapid Rehousing program (DRTRR) in October 2021.
“When we prioritize placement into permanent housing and make wraparound supports available, we will move the needle on homelessness and help thousands of households avoid the trauma of long episodes in crisis,” explained Robinson. “Increasing temporary solutions does not solve homelessness for our vulnerable populations. We must strive to keep people with families and friends or in their current homes while we help them resolve their housing crisis.”
Led by Housing Forward, the DRTRR program aims to rehouse more than 2,700 individuals by providing temporary and, in some cases, permanent subsidies and connecting them with needed services, such as supportive case management and job training to increase their self-sufficiency and helping them stay housed.
In addition to a 14% decrease in unsheltered homelessness and 4% decrease in homelessness overall, the report found an 18% increase in people exiting the homeless services system to permanent housing with a 92% rate of non-recurring cases, meaning that people remained housed after 12 months of entering the system.
However, the 2023 point-in-time count also found that there was an overall increase in the count among veterans (21%), family homelessness (15%) and youth (18%.) According to the report, “This sends a clear signal that when individuals and families seek assistance from the homeless response system, we must be equipped to offer immediate housing solutions.”
