Local residents may have been alarmed by the Honolulu Star-Advertiser front-page headline June 19: “4,171 on Oahu have no homes.”

You can’t blame an editor for trying to catch your interest, but it’s not quite correct to say 4,171 folks on the island known as the Gathering Place are homeless.

Rather, the figure reflects the 2,797 men, women and children counted on a single day living in homeless shelters, and the 1,374 who were counted over several days living “unsheltered.”

The Star-Advertiser story acknowledged that the count was a rough estimate, and that homeless-service providers said it was an undercount, given that survey takers were not talking with every person living in bushes, caves and mountains.

But let’s be clear: The total statewide point-in-time homeless count of about 5,800 is only one-third of the estimate from a much more thorough 2006 federal study that is a definitive count of Hawaii’s homeless.

The good news from the latest count, however, is that more homeless are moving into shelter space. And state officials, using federal funds and working with county agencies and dozens of nonprofit service providers, deserve the lion’s share of the credit.

The point-in-time count was released in the same week that the Lingle administration disclosed data from the state’s Homeless Management Information System that added to the sense that things had improved for Hawaii’s homeless.

According to the state, in fiscal 2009, more than 4,000 people were moved into permanent housing through state homeless programs. Nearly 12,000 homeless people received aid from outreach groups across the state, and more than 9,000 homeless people took advantage of services offered at shelters.

The total number of sheltered and unsheltered homeless people statewide increased from 5,782 in 2009 to 5,834 in 2010, or 0.9 percent, according to the point-in-time survey. The number of unsheltered folks dropped 8.6 percent while the number of sheltered jumped 8.2 percent.

Put another way, although there were slightly more homeless people in Hawaii year over year, more of them had a roof over their heads at night. The Lingle administration said its efforts to more than double the state’s shelter inventory over the past few years has made a difference.

Officials also say there is much more work to be done.

“While there continues to be a need for additional shelters in certain areas, the focus is now on transitioning individuals through the existing shelter spaces and moving on to permanent housing and independent living,” said Russ Saito, the state comptroller and Lingle’s lead coordinator on the administration’s homeless efforts. “By placing the emphasis on the long-term solution for homelessness – making more affordable housing available – we can be more successful in continuing to reduce our number of homeless residents.”

Dissecting the Point-In-Time Count

Now, let’s get back to the June 18 point-in-time report and the science of counting homeless populations.

First, the report, prepared by state and county agencies, is required by law so that Hawaii can keep receiving federal funds to help the homeless. The sheltered portion of the count must be performed on seven specific “subpopulation” categories: chronically homeless, severely mentally ill, chronic substance abusers, veterans, persons with HIV/AIDS, domestic violence victims, and unaccompanied youth under 18.

Second, the sheltered count was done only on one day, Jan. 25, while the unsheltered count took place from Jan. 26-31. It’s not easy counting homeless people, and it involves outreach workers who have established relationships with them.

Some homeless people refuse to answer questions — e.g., “How many times have you been homeless in the past three years?” or “Do you have a mental health, substance abuse or other disabilities that limit your ability to work or perform activities of daily living?”

If a person refuses to answer, survey takers are asked to provide specifics on location and “identifying descriptors” such as hair color and length, tattoos and wounds.

Highlights of the Count

Here’s some takeaways of the 2010 point-in-time numbers:

• The number of unsheltered chronically homeless — i.e., those with disabling conditions such as serious mental illness — was up 8.8 percent, while the percentage of that population seeking shelters dropped nearly 30 percent. These are the folks seriously in need of social services and the category of homeless that are most likely to stay that way.

• The count of unsheltered homeless individuals statewide dropped from 2,514 in 2009 to 2,299 in 2010 — a drop of 8.6 percent. But Oahu’s unsheltered homeless grew from 1,193 to 1,374 — a year-over-year increase of 15.2 percent. Kauai’s count increased 125 to 213, a jump of 70.4 percent.

• Unsheltered homeless numbers dropped 31.3 percent (581 to 399) on Maui and 49.1 percent (615 to 313) on the Big Island. But of the 2,299 unsheltered homeless statewide, the largest concentrations are on Oahu — the Waianae Coast (410), downtown Honolulu (394) and East Honolulu (307). The largest concentration on the neighbor islands is in Central Maui (202).

Sheltered households with children increased from 621 in 2009 to 675 this year. That’s sad because no one likes to think of keiki in shelters. But at least they’re not living on the street.

Things Could Get Worse For Homeless

One final, and troubling takeaway: The negative impact of a lingering economic recession continues.

“The current economic situation throughout the state may have increased the duration and frequency of homelessness, especially among persons with a disabling condition,” according to the point-in-time count. “Additionally, services for the disabled have experienced budget cuts that may result in long term homelessness for this vulnerable population.”

As Saito noted, “Homelessness cannot be solved by the state alone.”