Annual count shows deceptive decline in number of Maine homeless people

By Kathleen O’Brien, Bangor Daily News Staff

The annual count of homeless people in Maine documented 1,000 fewer people this year, but experts say the drop isn’t a result of homelessness declining across the state. 

Statewide, the number of homeless Mainers appeared to plummet from 3,726 last year to 2,695 this year because far fewer people living in emergency motels, as the pandemic-era programs that allowed people in need to live there for free have expired, according to Jonny Kurzfeld, MaineHousing’s planning and research director. Kurzfeld cautioned that the difference doesn’t mean the state’s homeless woes are solved.

The number of people who were living in Maine shelters or transitional housing on Jan. 23, 2024, grew by 128 and 473 people, respectively, from last year, according to data MaineHousing released on Thursday. 

The information comes from the annual Point in Time Count. During the count, volunteers go to where people who are homeless are living, such as shelters and encampments, on a single night in January to gather information about them. 

The practice has been criticized as imperfect because some people, like those who are in the hospital or are couch-surfing, are likely missed. Despite its flaws, the annual count is required by the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the data inform how much funding the state gets for programs and services aimed at helping people in need. 

“The count provides a detailed view of homelessness at a single point in time, which is valuable for comparing year to year changes,” Kurzfeld said. “However, that view necessarily lacks context about homeless trends and policy changes, creating a real risk of harmful misinterpretation of the data.”

Of the 2,695 people in Maine who were counted as homeless in some way this year, 306 were in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties, which are grouped together for the purposes of the count. This marked a dip from the 390 people who were homeless in Penobscot and Piscataquis counties last year. 

The availability of low-barrier, no-cost motels during the COVID-19 pandemic also made the number of Mainers who were considered homeless skyrocket by more than 2,000 in 2022 and 2023 over 2021. 

For example, 71 percent of the 3,455 Mainers who were documented as homeless in the 2022 Point in Time Count were living in emergency motels. 

To further complicate the data, people who were staying in hotels and motels paid for by emergency relief programs during the pandemic were also counted as homeless and volunteers could easily document them. With the programs expired, people living in hotel rooms they’re paying for themselves were missed in the count.

Meanwhile, other categories of homelessness, such as living in a shelter or transitional housing,  increased from last year, according to the annual count.  

The 2024 Point in Time Count report documented 1,342 living in shelters statewide, which is 128 people more than last year. 

Similarly, 732 people were living in transitional housing on Jan. 23, 2024, compared with the 259 people living in transitional housing one year ago. 

The number of people who were unsheltered statewide, however, decreased slightly from 299 last year to 273 this year.