Over the years, the City has made significant progress in addressing homelessness and related issues. This includes empaneling an Affordable Housing Task Force, presenting Propositions 1 and 3 to the voters of Vancouver (which established and expanded the Affordable Housing Fund), creating the Homeless Assistance and Resources Team, modifying the City Code to protect environmentally sensitive areas and fire impact areas, opening four Safe Stay Communities, a Safe Park, and funding other supportive housing programs.

The State of Washington requires each county to conduct a census of individuals experiencing homelessness, this is called the Point in Time Count (PIT). The PIT is administered by the Council for the Homeless and provides a countywide count of individuals living unsheltered, those living in shelter, and transitional housing programs. The PIT Count is conducted once a year and provides a snapshot of trends related to homelessness over time. Results of the January 2024 count are expected to be published this June.

In addition to the PIT, the City’s HART team conducted a separate count of unsheltered individuals living only within Vancouver City limits in summer 2023. This count enabled the City to obtain more in-depth information about individuals living unsheltered, including where they’re from and what barriers they face. More than 500 individuals were living unsheltered in Vancouver based on this count.

HART will complete a new count of those living unsheltered in Vancouver City limits again this summer.

The last PIT count was conducted in January. At the time of the count, there were 1,300 homeless individuals in Clark County and 672 of them were unsheltered. The results of the PIT Count also showed a 54% increase in chronic homelessness and 78% increase in chronic unsheltered homelessness since 2022. Results of the January 2024 count are expected to be released this June.

Chronic homelessness is when someone has experienced homelessness (whether sheltered, e.g., Safe Stays/Safe Parks or unsheltered) for a year or more, or more than four times in a three-year period, and also has a disability.

Unsheltered homelessness is when someone is living in a place not meant for human habitation, e.g., outdoors (with or without a tent), in a vehicle, in a structure with no running water/utilities, etc.

Federal court decisions (Martin v. Boise and Johnson v. Grants Pass) prevent cities in the Ninth Judicial Circuit from penalizing camping or outdoor habitation in all places, at all times, unless an adequate supply of temporary housing is reasonably available to people who lack the financial means to pay for housing.

Camp removal and displacement of people are assessed on a case-by-case basis depending on environmental impacts, public safety and user conflicts. Considerations include:

• public safety, including for the people who inhabit the camps
• potential for significant environmental impacts
• potential user conflicts
• available resources

Clean-up notices are posted at least 24 hours in advance, and several entities are often involved, such as HART, community outreach teams, Public Works, Talkin’ Trash, and sometimes code enforcement, police, fire and crisis response, if needed.

When the City removes an encampment on public property, a minimum 72-hour notice is provided. We look for the safest options for cleaning the camp, often hiring a contracted company that uses best practices, safe collection and trauma-informed care. Personal items, documents, money and jewelry are not thrown away but collected and inventoried, then stored for 60 days while HART works to reunite individuals with their items. Service providers and other community resources are notified in advance to be on hand for support and outreach ahead of time.

Read the City’s full standard operating procedures for encampment response on our HART page.

Use the MyVancouver mobile app or City website to report issues to the HART team or ask questions related to homelessness in Vancouver, including non-emergency issues, such as behavioral health concerns, unwanted occupation of property, etc. Illegal camping or issues associated with active or abandoned camps. For urgent issues requiring a police officer, please call 9-1-1.