Iowa among lowest homelessness rates nationwide, but advocates say work isn’t done

Iowa Iowa ranks among the states with the lowest rates of individuals facing homelessness, but state officials said they're working to get more local data and affordable housing.

Each year the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development presents a report on homelessness to Congress.

The report identifies who is homeless, the possible causes and how individuals are being served by local agencies.

For the first time in seven years, the number of Americans experiencing homelessness increased by about 0.7 percent because of increases of unsheltered individuals in the nation's largest cities, according to the report.

However, the number of homeless families with children declined by 5 percent.

In Iowa, 9 in every 10,000 people experienced homelessness this year, a 10.1 percent decrease from 2016, according to the report. That translated to 1,500 individuals and 1,256 families who were homeless in Iowa.

In contrast, 34 of every 10,000 people in California experienced homelessness, one of the nation's highest rates.

Iowa had the lowest rate - 3.8 percent - of those experiencing homelessness who were not staying in a shelter. No unsheltered families were reported.

The state also had 140 unaccompanied and unsheltered youths, the lowest of any state.

The numbers aren't surprising to officials at Iowa's Institute for Community Alliances, which collects and analyzes data for homelessness services providers across the state.

On a night in January each year, service providers conduct a point-in-time survey where an attempt is made to count the number of sheltered and unsheltered individuals in a community. The results are sent to the Institute for Community Alliances, which then sends them to HUD.

The best way to understand homelessness in Iowa is to compare parts of the state to each other or to parts of the Midwest, said Ehren Stover-Wright, research director at the Iowa Institute for Community Alliances.

'Comparing Iowa to other states, it's interesting but it's not all that likely to impact policy,” he said. 'It's hard to be homeless outside in the winter in Iowa. We just don't have the same numbers of people as the coast, especially those chronic numbers.”

This year, 32 Iowa counties turned in results from a point-in-time survey, and Stover-Wright said the Institute for Community Alliances is looking to expand involvement for this year's count Jan. 31, especially in Iowa's rural counties.

Homeless individuals in cities are likely to be in a shelter, whereas those in rural areas are doubling up with families in one home or living in cars or abandoned buildings.

'Most of the homeless are the working poor,” Stover-Wright said. 'They don't suffer from disabilities at a higher rate than other individuals. Most can only afford $300 to $400 a month (for housing), and they're having to put three or four families in a place that's not designed for that.”

As organizers look to expand the number of agencies participating in the point-in-time survey, Stover-Wright said advocates are continuing to push for more long-term supportive housing in the state.

'The affordable housing stock is so diminished in Iowa,” he said. 'Most homeless people are just like every other impoverished person: They're just experiencing some economic shock.”

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