Families in Northwest Arkansas have continued to struggle since the recession of 2008, preliminary results of a study on the homeless population show.
Researchers from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville estimated that 2,429 people were homeless in Benton and Washington counties as of Jan. 31, up 18 percent from a similar count of the homeless population in 2011, according to a report released Friday by Kevin Fitzpatrick, professor of sociology and Jones Chair in Community at UA.
More than half of those individuals are 18 and younger, according to the preliminary report.
School districts in Benton and Washington counties tallied 1,175 children who were considered homeless on Jan. 31. The number of homeless children attending school has nearly tripled since in 2007 when school districts reported 489 homeless pupils.
A local or regional economy has a significant impact on the local homeless population, Fitzpatrick said.
Northwest Arkansas has experienced an overall employment growth of 4.3 percent, according to a report on the economy earlier this month by Kathy Deck, director of the University of Arkansas’ Center of Business and Economic Research. The unemployment rate dropped in December to 5.1 percent from 5.7 percent.
But the growth and economic health of a region excludes a portion of the population, Fitzpatrick said. Homeless individuals struggle to save the roughly $2,000 it takes for deposits and rent to acquire housing.
Homelessness is nearly impossible to prevent or intervene and correct withoutsafe low-cost housing, he said.
About 80 percent of adults and children counted as homeless are “doubled-up” in a home owned by a friend or relative, Fitzpatrick said. Others are living in shelters, hotels, cars, RVs or camps.
The homeless population living with friends or relatives is difficult to serve because they often don’t consider themselves homeless, Fitzpatrick said.
About 10 percent to 15 percent of the individuals served by the nonprofit Helping Hands organization in Bentonville is homeless, said Bill Crawford, executive director. Helping Hands’ services include assistance with rent and utilities, and it operates a food pantry.
The organization assists many grandparents who are raising their grandchildren and works with families who bounce from friend to friend and relative to relative.
“Nationally, we see people saying that the economy is getting better,” he said. “From our perspective, we really aren’t seeing that. I don’t know that is getting any worse. We’re not really seeing it get any better.”
Bentonville School District had the highest number of homeless children, with 294 reported for the district of 14,880, according to data collected by Fitzpatrick. The Gentry School District had the highest percentage of homeless children, with 9 percent or 127 of about 1,400 students who were considered homeless on Jan. 31.
In the Fayetteville School District, 192 pupils were homeless on Jan. 31 in the district of 9,100 students, according to the data collected by Fitzpatrick.
Marian Riner, program coordinator for the Families in Transition program for the Fayetteville School District, said the numbers of students needing services has subsided this year from levels during the two previous school years. The need remains high but is not as high as it was, she said.
“We’ve got a long way to go,” Riner said. “It’s still a struggle for us. It’s been more manageable.”
The majority of homeless children in Fayetteville are living with another family, but this year more families are living in a hotel or motel, Riner said.
Children in schools are considered homeless if they lack a fixed, adequate and regular nighttime residence. When children are homeless, federal law allows them to remain in the school they were attending, Riner said.
The 2013 Northwest Arkansas Point-in-Time Homeless Census by Fitzpatrick is a biennial head count organized by the University of Arkansas’ Community and Family Institute.
This year’s census of the homeless population in Benton and Washington counties encompassed 443 adults who were interviewed in shelters, food pantries, soup kitchens and day centers; 62 children under the age of 6 who were identified by their parent or guardian; an estimated 571 parents of school-age children; and 178 additional homeless individuals from soup kitchens, day centers, food pantries and schoolage children not attending school.
Fitzpatrick said he does not anticipate releasing a final report on the 2013 homeless census this year.
Northwest Arkansas, Pages 7 on 02/19/2013