Homelessness rises in Philadelphia for third straight year
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Homelessness is on the rise again in Philadelphia, according to the city's annual point-in-time survey.
Why it matters: The uptick comes as the city's beleaguered Office of Homeless Services is in the midst of a leadership shakeup and trying to recover from years of overspending.
Driving the news: Nearly 5,200 people are estimated to be experiencing homelessness in Philly this year, per the survey conducted in January — Mayor Cherelle Parker's first month in office. That's up nearly 10% compared to last year.
- The city's homeless population increased for the third year in a row and topped 5,000 for the first time since 2020.
Yes, but: The population remains below pre-pandemic levels.
Zoom in: The majority of people experiencing homelessness were in emergency shelters, safe havens or transitional housing. But the share of those unsheltered surged 38%, compared to last year, to reach 976.
- Kensington, ground zero for the city's heroin crisis, accounted for 337 of the city's unhoused population, up 23% over last year.
- Overall, the city has seen an increase in the number of homeless people in South and Northeast Philly in recent years, per the report.
How it works: More than 47 teams canvassed the entire city for the survey, visiting known homeless hotspots like areas under I-95.
- Reality check: The survey likely undercounts the state of homelessness in the city as it fails to account for certain people, like those couch surfing.
The big picture: Since the count was conducted, Parker has cracked down on homelessness, particularly in Kensington.
- During her first year in office, Parker has cleared encampments from the neighborhood's main business corridor, and she's seeking to build a $100 million drug treatment facility and shelter in Holmesburg. It's expected to house more than 600 people.
- She's also pledged to dismantle the open-air drug markets in Kensington.
The latest: Parker recently appointed Cheryl Hill to lead the city's Office of Homeless Services, which is working to recover after overspending its budget by about $15 million in recent years.
- Hill comes from the anti-homelessness nonprofit Project HOME and previously worked for Atlanta's Housing Authority.
What we're watching: Hill is leading the development of a new strategy in the Parker administration to address systemic homelessness in Philadelphia, city spokesperson Sherylle Linton Jones tells Axios.
Zoom out: The U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in June that allows metropolitan areas struggling with rising homelessness to ban unhoused individuals from sleeping outdoors.
- Advocates have raised concerns that it allows municipalities to criminalize homelessness, even when shelter space is unavailable.
- There's no such ban in Philadelphia, and the Office of Homeless Services has condemned the high court ruling.