Homelessness is a complex social problem that intersects with many other issues such as affordable housing, unemployment, mental health and substance abuse. A lot is known about homelessness in Lake County thanks to careful data collection and analysis. The Homeless Coalition gathers and analyzes information to shape solutions that will end homelessness. Below is some of the information we have used to plan to end homelessness.
Over 1,700 people experience homelessness in a year.
Lake County's system performance measures pull data from # agencies to have high-level understanding of how create lasting change. For example, over 70% of the people experiencing homelessness in Lake County are NEW (meaning they were not in the system for the 2 years prior). Here is how the system works over the course of a year.
Homeless System Map
Homelessness is going down in Lake County.
Every year on the last Wednesday in January, the Lake County Coalition for the Homeless conducts a PIT (Point-in-Time) count. The PIT count is essentially a head-count, or census, of every homeless person in Lake County during this one night in January. Based on this data we can see that homelessness is decreasing and some demographics.
Point-in-Time Counts of Homelessness in Lake County, IL
1 in 3 people experiencing homelessness in Lake County is a child.
The demographics from the Point-In Time Count show us the extent of homelessness among families.