Multnomah County launches by-name database for tracking homeless population
PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Multnomah County has launched its long-awaited count of the region's homeless population — with each person tracked by name.
The county's — formerly known as the — is now able track those who have stayed in a shelter, met with a street outreach worker, signed up for housing services or visited local day centers.
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This information will be posted to the county's every month in order to provide the most up-to-date record of how many people have entered and exited homelessness, according to county leaders.
'This accurate and timely data is a major milestone that provides increased transparency and accountability while helping frontline workers, decision-makers, and the whole community make progress that we can more easily track and therefore achieve,' Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said in a statement.
The dashboard shares how many people are currently receiving rent assistance on a monthly basis, whereas that data used to be shared every three months. It also tracks whether people were able to leave homelessness for housing.
John Tapogna, the senior policy advisor for ECOnorthwest said housing data — including how much housing is currently available — is crucial to ending homelessness.
'The root of our homelessness crisis is housing affordability,' he said. 'Local governments have sheltered and housed more people than ever — outperforming the goals set under the ambitious Supportive Housing Services measure — but the need continues to outpace the available resources.'
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This data, combined with Multnomah County's real-time shelter availability, will make it easier for the county to ensure those experiencing homelessness are receiving the care they need.
Prior to the by-name list, county leaders used to rely on the Point in Time Count to record how many people were experiencing homelessness, as determined by the federally-required Homeless Management Information System. However, officials said this data county meant the same unnamed person could be counted more than once.
Multnomah County took over the information system in March 2024, allowing them to gather fresh data with people listed by name to improve tracking.
'This is an important milestone and provides a path for actionable, data-informed decisions aimed at making homelessness rare, brief and non-recurring,' Meghan Arsenault, the county's senior strategy lead for community solutions.
The dashboard also reveals that the number of people experiencing homelessness has increased over the past year due to several factors, including housing shortages, evictions, expanded services, and better data collection.
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However, leaders say this increase is a sign that the county's data has improved by reflecting the number of people who have been 'experiencing homelessness all along, but had not previously been counted.'
'Our region has a new baseline from which to anchor strategy and performance,' Central City Concern CEO Andrew B. Mendenhall said. 'We are saddened, but not surprised by this data.'
It also comes as the Homeless Services Department faces criticism for its projected in the next fiscal year.
Stay with KOIN 6 News as we continue to cover the homeless crisis.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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