The Portland Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a 2023 year-in-review report on the city’s response to homelessness, detailing demographic data and statistics related to residents of the Homeless Services Center (HSC), overdoses, housing, and other social services.
[RELATED: Portland’s Homeless Services Center Reports High Number of “Out-of-State” Intakes…]
Portland HHS Interim Director Shaza Stevenson presented the report during the Portland HHS and Public Safety Committee meeting Tuesday afternoon.
Throughout 2023, the HSC received a total of 1,252 unique guests — broken up into 887 males, 357 females, five transgender individuals and three “Gender Nonconforming guests,” according to the HHS report.
The HSC also housed 30 veterans, and 304 of the total guests in 2023 were chronically homeless, meaning that they have been without a home for more than twelve months within the past three years.
The average length of stay for guests at the HSC in 2023 was 63.3 nights.
Portland’s HSC is a low barrier emergency homeless shelter, meaning that to stay at the shelter does not require sobriety or background checks.
“They don’t have to stop using substances, that’s not the purpose,” Stevenson said during her presentation. “The shelter is there as a warm bed and a place for all of their needs to be met.”
[RELATED: Maine Democrats Seek Millions in New Funding for Homeless Shelters…]
Amenities for guests at the HSC include Wi-Fi access, charging stations, showers, shuttle services, three meals per day on site, free laundry services, secure storage of belongings, a library, clinic services from Greater Portland Health (GPH), and naloxone (Narcan) to prevent fatal overdoses.
Longer-term HSC guests gain access to additional amenities, including guaranteed bed availability, case management and housing navigation services, support groups, and a syringe exchange.
According to the HHS report, in 2023 Portland’s syringe exchange distributed 806,000 sterile syringes in total of 6,178 exchanges.
269,000 more syringes were distributed than collected in 2023.
The exchange also distributed over 5,000 naloxone kits.
[RELATED: Sanford Suspends Syringe Exchange Program, Cleans Homeless Encampment…]
Portland has recorded 68 total overdoses in 2024 as of Feb. 12, however has had no overdose fatalities this year to date — a fact which both Stevenson and Portland Fire Chief Keith Gautreau suggested could be due to a reduction in the number of homeless individuals living outside in encampments.
A 50-bed expansion to the HSC, as well as the opening of a new 179-bed shelter for asylum-seeking migrants in Portland’s Riverton neighborhood in November resulted in more than 100 additional beds being available at the HSC, aiding the city’s efforts to move individuals from encampments into the HSC in recent months.
Throughout 2023, 159 guests at the HSC were placed into housing, including 27 placements for chronically homeless individuals and three placements for veterans, the report found.
Stevenson also pointed to the demographic differences between Portland and the State of Maine’s chronically homeless population.
While the Maine State Housing Authority (MaineHousing) 2023 Point in Time Survey found that 47 percent of homeless individuals statewide were black or African-American, Portland reported that 250 out of 304, or about 82 percent of chronically homeless guests at the HSC in 2023 were White.
Additionally, of the chronically homeless population at the HSC last year, about 71 percent were male, and approximately 69 percent were between the ages of 20 and 50.
A survey of 759 chronically homeless individuals conducted by the Portland HHS Prevention and Diversion team found that the top reason cited by respondents for their homelessness in 2023 was the cost of housing (139 respondents).
Other top reasons included not having a job (129 respondents) and mental health (79 respondents).
Portland HHS Interim Director Stevenson also said that the city will be shifting the role of the Encampment Crisis Response Team (ECRT), the group that has been leading outreach efforts at encampments throughout the city.
Portland has seen a dramatic drop in the number of tents throughout the city following the sweep of the Harbor View Park encampment in early January
As of Wednesday, Feb. 14, the city reports a total of 39 tents citywide — down from over 200 in fall 2023.
Stevenson said Tuesday that the ECRT will be shifting away from “crisis response” and moving towards an emphasis on housing and case management, collecting and analyzing data, and increasing coordination between partner organizations in the city’s response to homelessness.
