For The First Time In 6 Years, Homelessness Has Increased Significantly In Bucks County

BUCKS COUNTY, PA — Bucks County's number of houseless community members has significantly increased since last year, preliminary results from a January survey showed.

The 2022 Point-In-Time homelessness count found that, on the evening of Jan. 25, 427 people in Bucks County were living in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or outdoors.

The figure is a 48 percent increase from last year's count. It's also the county's first recorded increase in homelessness in the past six years.

“This year’s Point-in-Time results need to be considered thoughtfully — the increase is partly related to the effects of natural disasters,” vice chair of the Bucks County Board of Commissioners Diane Ellis-Marseglia said. “While the county and our partners were able find temporary housing this past year for most displaced residents, this increase points to a need for new affordable and attainable housing options throughout Bucks County.”

The 2022 count identified 388 residents sleeping in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or hotels paid for by charitable organizations; 61 people in seasonal Code Blue shelters; and 28 adults sleeping outdoors or in other places not meant for human habitation.

"Racial and ethnic minorities make up a disproportionate number of persons in the PIT Count vs. the overall population of Bucks County," Bucks County Housing Link said in its report.

Though 124 of the residents counted Jan. 25 were children, the county said that for the sixth straight year no one under 18 was sleeping outside.

Of the 122 people in hotels, half were there because of flooding or housing condemnation, according to the survey results.

The number of homeless veterans decreased to nine in 2022, down from 23 last year.

The count was split nearly evenly between men and women, each making up about 50% of those counted. People identifying with another gender accounted for less than 1%.

Chronically homeless households experiencing long-term or repeated episodes of homelessness accounted for 38 of the people counted, the county said.

According to a news release, the County of Bucks, Bucks County Housing Link, and their partners continue to work to ensure residents’ experiences of homelessness are brief, rare and non-recurring.

Ongoing initiatives include:

• The Bonus for Bucks Landlords Incentive Program, which is recruiting new landlords to join the Housing Link’s fight against housing insecurity using cash incentives.
• The Bucks County Emergency Rental Assistance (BERA) Program, which since March 2021 has worked to prevent evictions by providing more than 3,260 Bucks County renters and 824 landlords with rental and utility assistance.
• Expansion of rapid rehousing programs using federal funding and grants to help people experiencing homelessness, including victims of domestic violence.

Housing Link coordinates the federally mandated Point-In-Time count each year, during the last week of January.

During the count, Housing Link Street Outreach teams, staff and volunteers canvas the county to survey homeless residents. Findings are then reported to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

To see additional breakdowns of the 2022 data, visit the Bucks County Housing Link website.

Landlords interested in partnering with Bucks County Housing Link can learn more online.

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