photo by: Kim Callahan/Journal-World

An all-terrain vehicle used by the Homeless Response Team is pictured on Dec. 11, 2024.

Story updated at 2:49 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 13:

The Lawrence area had about 100 fewer people experiencing unsheltered homelessness on the night of the annual point-in-time homeless count than it did last year, according to unverified figures released by the City of Lawrence on Thursday morning.

The results are a “promising shift … in our efforts to end chronic homelessness in this community,” Misty Bosch-Hastings, the director of the city’s Homeless Solutions Division, said in a news release.

This year’s point-in-time count was conducted on Jan. 22 and Jan. 23. The city submitted its collected information to the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition, which will verify it and send out an official report for Douglas County — and the rest of the state — later this year following acceptance by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

“I’d say that the point in time count is an important tool, but it’s just one piece of the larger picture,” Bosch-Hastings told the Journal-World via email. “It provides a snapshot of homelessness on a single night, which helps us track progress and identify gaps.”

“However, homelessness is fluid–people move in and out of homelessness for many reasons, including job loss, medical crises, or lack of affordable housing. That’s why looking at trends over time is what really tells the story,” she said in the email.

The point-in-time numbers, as submitted by the City of Lawrence Homeless Response Team, are:

• People experiencing sheltered homelessness in Douglas County (2024): 136

• People experiencing sheltered homelessness in Douglas County (2025): 184

• People experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Douglas County (2024): 142

* People experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Douglas County (2025): 43

The City of Lawrence credits the formation of the multidisciplinary Homeless Response Team for the reduction in unsheltered homelessness. The Homeless Response Team forms relationships with these individuals so they can connect them with the resources they need to find shelter. Additionally, the city has made significant investment to create additional spaces to shelter people in need, the release said.

“These aren’t just numbers — they’re a reflection of the real, on-the-ground work happening every day. Our Homeless Response Team, alongside our dedicated community partners, have been meeting people where they are, building trust, and creating tailored compassionate solutions that fit each person’s journey,” Bosch-Hastings said in the release.

She added that the data also reflects the success of the city’s diversion policy, which enables the city to return homeless people who aren’t originally from Lawrence to their communities of origin or other places where they have resources.

“We’ve made great strides, but we’re not stopping here,” Bosch-Hastings said in the press release. “We’ll continue to build on this momentum, knowing that together, we’re making progress toward ending chronic homelessness.”

As for the sheltered homeless number, the 2024 and 2025 numbers reported above only count people who were in emergency shelter at either the Lawrence Community Shelter or city-organized overflow sites. The HUD-verified point-in-time numbers released later this year will include people experiencing sheltered homelessness at other facilities, including Family Promise, Bert Nash and the Willow Domestic Violence Center.

The number of people experiencing sheltered homelessness increased by 48 individuals from 2024 to 2025, a 35% rise. This shift represents people who have moved from unsheltered homelessness into shelters like the Lawrence Community Shelter. While they are still homeless, they are now in a safer environment where they have access to services that support their path to permanent housing, the city said.

Bosch-Hastings said in an email that the next steps are for the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition to do their internal work on the data. For example, they must check the data for any people who may have taken the survey more than once.

“Once their work is done and they feel confident they send it over to HUD for final approval,” Bosch-Hastings said via email. “HUD and (the Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition) will then work together to refine the data.”

Once everything is verified, the finalized point-in-time data is submitted to HUD’s Homelessness Data Exchange, where communities submit data related to homelessness. It allows researchers and policymakers to analyze the scope of homelessness across the United States.

She said via email that HUD typically releases the national point-in-time count data in the fall. This timeline allows for the collection, verification and analysis of data following the counts conducted in January.