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Nonprofit to count Johnson County homeless population

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A Johnson County nonprofit is conducting a headcount of homeless people who live in the county next week.

During United Community Services of Johnson County’s annual “Point-in-Time” count, which takes place Thursday, Jan. 26, the nonprofit will aim to count how many adults and children are experiencing homelessness in the county, including people living both in and out of shelters.

The date gleaned from the count may then be used to help address the county’s persistent lack of affordable housing and scarcity of shelters for the unhoused.

Homelessness Johnson County
Above, a previous client at Project 1020, a cold-weather shelter in Lenexa. File photo.

Federal law requires the homelessness count

  • National guidelines require counties to conduct the count during the last 10 days of January.
  • Johnson County authorizes United Community Services of Johnson County to lead the headcount efforts.
  • Volunteers from other local organizations — including school districts and faith groups — will help with the outdoor count by looking for people staying in parks and in their vehicles.
  • The surrounding counties in the Kansas City metro will conduct their own headcounts to try and avoid missing anyone in a population that is often transitory.
  • UCS will then submit the data to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Johnson County needs adult shelters and affordable homes

  • A countywide housing study published in early 2021 labels “unseen homelessness” as an ongoing issue.
  • Rita Carr, director of community planning for UCS, said past data in Johnson County shows a need for family shelters like the Salvation Army family lodge.
  • In more recent years, data has shown a larger need for adult-only shelters, which the county lacks.
  • Most unhoused adults in Johnson County have jobs or some form of income, according to recent data. In January 2022, 63% of surveyed unhoused adults reported having income.
  • “That really shows the affordable housing problem in Johnson County,” Carr said. “It’s not a lack of income. It’s the gap between someone’s income and the ability to rent a place.”

UCS will use this year’s headcount to address issues

  • Carr said UCS and Johnson County will use the data from the headcount to determine the services most needed in Kansas’ most affluent county.
  • For example, if the data showed a large number of unhoused people with physical disabilities or who are fleeing from domestic violence, Carr said the county could use this to form more disability or domestic violence outreach services.
  • “Each year we will look at that data and say, ‘Do we have an adequate response to these needs?'” Carr said. “It’s a one-day snapshot, but it can tell a story. It shows what services we’re doing well and maybe some areas that might have gaps.”

Go deeper: Johnson County OKs $4M in fed funds to tackle homelessness. Plus, view past data for Johnson County’s past point-in-time counts.

About the author

Lucie Krisman
Lucie Krisman

Hi! I’m Lucie Krisman, and I cover local business for the Johnson County Post.

I’m a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, but have been living in Kansas since I moved here to attend KU, where I earned my degree in journalism. Prior to joining the Post, I did work for The Pitch, the Eudora Times, the North Dakota Newspaper Association and KTUL in Tulsa.

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