The number of people experiencing homelessness in Hamilton County is rising, information collected by a local social service organization suggests.
Strategies to End Homelessness recently shared data with Cincinnati City Council showing a 7.5% increase in the number of people without housing over the last two years.
The rise is especially sharp for those who aren't staying in shelters. STEH President Kevin Finn told Cincinnati Edition that number has doubled.
"We had a little over 6,000 people who experienced homelessness last year," he said. "It's now increased each of the last two years after having declined for several years before that."
The increases also seem to be hitting families — a demographic Finn said can be hard to count. Families without housing tend to try and hide that fact because parents are worried about losing custody of their children, Finn said.
In 2023, Finn said STEH counted less than a dozen families experiencing homelessness in Hamilton County. Last year, it was more than 130.
Finn says some of that shows a rise in family homelessness, but it's also likely about how those families were counted. STEH recently introduced new outreach methods that better connect with families who might be without a home who may be sleeping on the streets or in a car.
Susie Skeens is Ohio Valley Goodwill Industries Director of Shelter and Supportive Housing. She says her organization has also seen signs of a big increase in families needing housing.
"We have significantly seen an increase in the need, not just for housing, but for additional supports," she told Cincinnati Edition. "In the past, most of the individuals we served were dealing with mental health symptoms, struggling with addictions. Now it's more families that just can't afford their rents."
Finn said the increases likely have a simple primary cause: the expiration of COVID-era federal aid for housing and homelessness prevention and intervention.
"It's not really a surprise that homelessness went down when those resources were available, nor is it necessarily a surprise that we've seen an increase since those resources went away."