SPOKANE, Wash. – A new study by the Spokane Business Association has sparked discussion regarding the origins of homeless individuals in the area.
The study, conducted by Marbut Consulting, aims to expand on HUD’s annual Point in Time (PIT) survey, which assesses the homeless population in Spokane.
Gavin Cooley, director of strategic projects at the Spokane Business Association, explained the study’s goal, saying, “In our case, we asked a lot more detailed questions about geography, and there is a sense that people are being attracted to Spokane.”
The questionnaire used in the study asks for identifying information, including the year individuals first experienced homelessness and their location at that time.
However, Hallie Burchinal, founder of Spokane’s Compassionate Addiction Treatment, known as Spokane CAT, criticized the questions.
In a statement, she said: “The issue regarding the questionnaire that was used is that the questions were slanted to get the results they wanted – which was to show that many of the people experiencing homelessness in Spokane are not from Spokane.”
Despite Burchinal’s concerns, Cooley disputed any bias in the survey.
“I think given that you have about 230 surveys, probably most of that bias has filtered out,” he said.
The report identified 403 unique homeless individuals experiencing “street-level homelessness.”
Cooley emphasized the differences between their survey and the PIT survey, saying, “I think it’s fundamentally different questions being asked.”
Data from the Marbut report indicated that 50.2% of those surveyed first experienced homelessness outside Spokane, suggesting the city is a secondary location for homeless individuals.
In contrast, city data shows that 80% of Spokane’s homeless population originates from Spokane County.
Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington supported this, stating their data over the last 60 years indicates “the vast majority are from the region.”
Cooley expressed a desire for collaboration between PIT and his survey.
“Find the power of collaboration rather than having this competitive attitude that somehow some work we’re doing or anyone’s doing is trying to take away from the value of what they’re doing, because we certainly don’t see it that way,” Cooley said. The Marbut report, drafted by Dr. Robert G. Marbut Jr., who served as President Trump’s “Federal Homelessness Czar,” recommended three actions: increasing funding for treatment and recovery, creating customized clinical tracks, and redirecting 35% of homelessness and housing funds towards emergency treatment response. Cooley hopes the report fosters a detailed conversation on recovery, not just identifying people who are struggling.
The full statement from Catholic Charities of Eastern Washington reads:
“Catholic Charities Eastern Washington can’t speak to the report commissioned by the SBA or its methodological validity because we were not involved in the survey.
However, our data, based on the federal Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) – which sets forth uniform standards on collecting accurate data – aligns with the city’s Point-In-Time system data—which reveals that 80 percent of homeless are from Spokane County and 85 percent are primarily from the Northwest.
Additionally, our sixty-plus years of experiential expertise of serving, sheltering and housing the homeless tell us the vast majority are from the region. For instance, at our Donna Hanson Haven building downtown, which only accepts people who have experienced homelessness, all but one resident is from Washington. The other is from Idaho.
Ultimately, our Catholic faith informs us that it does not matter where somebody is from in these scenarios. We believe that every human person is made in the image and likeness of God and as such every person, regardless of whatever struggles they are going through, deserves dignity, respect, compassion and ALL of the services we provide to them. Our Gospel mandate is clear. If somebody is hungry, we will feed them. If somebody is without a place to sleep, we will give them a bed. If somebody is in need, we will serve them.”
The full statement from Hallie Burchinal reads:
“The issue regarding the questionnaire that was used is that the questions were slanted to get the results they wanted – which was to show that many of the people experiencing homelessness in Spokane are not from Spokane. I have lived off and on in the Spokane area since I was 13 years old. I moved away for 12 years and returned back to Spokane, the city I call home, in 2014. If I were to answer the questions on Marbut’s questionnaire, I would have fallen into the category of people that they are considering ‘not from here’, yet this is clearly my home city.”
