Welcome House outreach worker Amanda Booker climbs a steep hill and pushes through trees and brush to get to a tent in an isolated spot on the edges of Newport.
She calls out a man's name. He doesn't want to come out, but she asks him some brief questions through the tent's small window.
"I'm sorry," she says. "I know you've answered these questions a few times for me, but is this the first time you've been homeless?"
"I've been homeless about five years," he answers, eventually giving his first name, initials and birthdate.
The questions are part of the K-Count, Kentucky's version of a federal count of people experiencing homelessness. It's organized by the Kentucky Housing Corporation.
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Social service workers across the country have been out this month doing the annual count of people experiencing homelessness, often called the Point-in Time Count.
Last year, that count revealed a 33% increase in homelessness nationally. In Northern Kentucky, it found more than 350 people experiencing homelessness in late January 2024. Social workers said they expected to find more this year.
Welcome House Director of Homeless Solutions Jenna Gurren says the count is important because it's used to set state and federal funding for social service agencies that provide help for people experiencing homelessness. It's required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
It also supplements data her agency collects that can reveal trends in homelessness.
"It's really, really important data-wise that we be able see how many veterans we're encountering on K-Count day," she says. "How many households versus individuals; youth. So all of that information is really vital for us to understand. We can look at it and compare it to data we're collecting at Welcome House year round."
As she walks down the hill away from the camp in Newport, Booker says she and other social workers will encounter all kinds of people during the counting process. Many aren't addicted to drugs or alcohol as stereotypes might suggest.
"It's just as much an older lady who is on disability and her rent got raised, but her check's the same and she can't afford to pay rent," she says. "We see that a lot. Or someone who doesn't get along with their family; mental illness. I'm not saying drugs and alcohol are never involved, but it's a whole mix of things."
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This year, Booke has noticed people aren't quite as accessible during the count, perhaps due to the recently passed Safer Kentucky Act, which criminalizes public camping. That law came after a U.S. Supreme Court ruling allowing such bans in June last year.
She motions to the semi-hidden tent again.
"They're not walking around with all their stuff as much, they're hiding it a bit more," she says. "They're not staying near abandoned churches in the doorways and stuff. They're getting a little more out there, like this."