Hillsborough County volunteers will conduct a homeless count Thursday

TAMPA, Fla. - Things are looking brighter in the Sunshine State for many who’ve experienced homelessness. Over the last decade, Florida has seen the greatest homeless population decline in the country, according to the latest federal study.

The report finds that from 2007-2019 the homeless population in Florida dropped by 35 percent. The number of homeless veterans and families with children has also decreased greatly in Florida. 

As Hillsborough County volunteers head out for their annual “Homeless Count” – a process that provides a “snapshot” of the daily homeless population – there’s one group they fear may be underrepresented the data: the number of unaccompanied youth homeless. Unaccompanied youth are children, teens and young adults under the age of 25, who are without a parent or guardian present. 

“They’re more transient, more likely they’ll couch-surf, more hidden,” said Tampa Hillsborough Homeless Initiative Chief Executive Officer, Antoinette D. Hayes-Triplett. “Some think they might get in trouble so they’re more likely to be reluctant to be available for the count.”  

They’re also particularly vulnerable and, according to U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development data, more likely to sleep out on the streets than their adult homeless counterparts. Of the 35,000 unaccompanied youth homelessness in the U.S. in 2019, nearly half were unsheltered. 

Florida also has one of the highest rates of unaccompanied youth homelessness in the country, but trends in this subset of the homeless population are largely unknown. Prior to 2019, tracking unaccompanied homeless youth numbers was done on a voluntary basis. 

As Hillsborough officials work to better understand this part of the homeless population, they say overall data trends have been positive. 

Since 2014, the number of people sleeping out in the streets or in homeless shelters has dropped by 15 percent in Hillsborough County, according to Hayes-Triplett.

She credits an increase in county and federal funding to projects that provide services and more permanent housing solutions to homeless people in Hillsborough County. 

“We have a new program where we can house groups of homeless individuals together,” explained Hayes-Triplett. “These are bonds and support systems these individuals have built over time, so it’s important to them to stay together as they attempt to transition away from homelessness.” 

Today’s Homeless Count provides a Point-In-Time (PIT) “snapshot” as to what the homeless population in our community looks like during a single, 24-hour period to help community planners better understand, through demographic information, who is homeless, why, and for how long. The count helps city, county and federal officials plan and allocate resources to combat homelessness.