Denver, CO
Here's who gets counted as homeless, sheltered and unsheltered during Denver's annual Point In Time Count
At 4 a.m. on Tuesday, 25 two-person teams will scour Denver, counting people living outside.
The teams of city workers, deployed by the Department of Housing Stability, will comb through the city center, and also farther out toward Denver’s edge. They’ll look in obvious encampments but also more remote locations.
They can’t find everybody sleeping outside, but they can do their best. The number they arrive at with will be used by Mayor Mike Johnston to set policy, as he has done with last year’s Point in Time count. He used that data to decide how many people to try to shelter over two years. The number will also give service providers a sense of how many more people are living on the streets than last year.
The workers doing the count will be participating in the nationwide Point in Time Count, the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development’s attempt to figure out roughly — very roughly — how many people are experiencing homelessness on a single night in January.
It’s an imprecise exercise in tallying homelessness. Not all regions handle the count the same way, though all follow the same set of HUD rules.
Even the seven counties under the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative, the group overseeing the local count, have different approaches to counting. Some use volunteers. Others, like Denver, use paid staff.
Who gets counted as homeless, sheltered and unsheltered is specific.
Certain situations, considered homeless by the U.S. Department of Education, go uncounted in HUD’s Point in Time data: People staying with family and friends or doubled up and couch surfing.
People living in shelters and hotels and motels paid for by homeless service providers will be counted as people experiencing homelessness while living in “emergency shelter,” explained Kyla Moe, deputy director of the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative.
People living in unsanctioned encampments will be counted as “unsheltered.”
“People staying in Safe Outdoor Spaces are considered unsheltered by HUD and will therefore be reported as part of Denver’s unsheltered numbers,” explained Derek Woodbury, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing Stability. “There are currently three Safe Outdoor Spaces in Denver located at 1530 W. 13th Ave., 4635 N. Peoria St., and 3815 Steele St.”
But those living in tiny homes on government or nonprofit-run campuses will likely be considered “sheltered,” though people living independently in tiny homes or sheds without restrooms or kitchens are considered “unsheltered.”
City workers will hand count people living in encampments. The shelters will provide data for how many people spent the night to the Homeless Management Information System, the regional year-round database tracking homelessness services.
In the week after the count, at least 10% of the people identified will be surveyed about their identity and lives.
Last year saw a dramatic rise in homelessness in the metro area.
According to the 2023 Point in Time count, 9,065 experienced homelessness on a single night last January. And that’s just a fraction of the more than 30,000 people who accessed homeless services throughout the year, according to the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative’s recently released 2023 State of Homelessness report.
After six months of Mayor Johnston’s administration’s effort to shelter 1,000 people, Denverites will look at the new number and ask: Is Johnston’s House1000 push making a dent in unsheltered homelessness?
Cole Chandler, Johnston’s senior advisor on homelessness, told Denverite he’s optimistic the number of people living outside has dropped. But the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative won’t publish the data in the summer, so he can’t be sure.
Two factors, outside of Johnston’s control, will influence the number of people living outside.
Tens of thousands of migrants have arrived in Denver from the Texas-Mexico border, and some of them are living on the streets or in city-run shelters, likely boosting the Point in Time number of both sheltered and unsheltered individuals.
“We do not ask for migrant status in HMIS nor on the PIT survey, so someone who is a migrant who presented at a sheltered location or as unsheltered would be counted in the data,” Moe said.
The outreach teams across the metro are prepared to survey people who don’t speak English.
“Our community has recruited volunteers and staff that speak Spanish and we have the tools translated into Spanish,” Moe said.
The Point in Time number of unsheltered people could be much lower than it might be if the count took place in a few weeks, after the city resumes its policy of kicking migrant families out of shelters once their alloted days end — a decision the Johnston administration announced just days before the Point in Time count.
While city officials say they are trying to find housing for every migrant before they’re forced from shelter to the streets, the policy shift could lead to a massive increase in the number of people sleeping outside — something this year’s Point of Time numbers will not capture.
Chandler says the timing of removing migrants from shelters has been a topic of debate and weather has been a main factor in conversations — not so much the Point in Time count.
He also acknowledged that the administration did not conceive of how the increase in migration and homelessness would converge.
“This issue has so rapidly evolved over the course of six months, it’s kind of frightening,” Chandler said. “And it’s going to have to be something we continue to grapple with in a really serious way. And we’re really hoping to get some federal support and some coordination at the federal level.”
Denver, CO
Denver bans federal law enforcement officers from covering their faces, DHS says it won’t comply
Denver city leaders unanimously passed a ban on all officers, including Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents, from wearing face coverings while detaining or arresting people. That law also requires officers to wear visible identification.
It’s the second sweeping ordinance against federal officers in Denver in just a few days. Last Thursday, Mayor Mike Johnston signed an executive order banning federal immigration agents from operating on city property without a judicial warrant.
It also directs Denver police, deputies and fire personnel to investigate reports of violence and criminal behavior.
The Department of Homeland Security responded calling the executive order “legally illiterate,” adding, “no local official has the authority to bar ICE from carrying out federal law on public property … and while Mayor Johnston continues to release pedophiles, rapists, gang members, and murderers onto their streets, our brave law enforcement will continue to risk their lives to arrest these heinous criminals.”
DHS didn’t mince words when responding to Denver’s new face coverings ban either, saying in part, “To be crystal clear: we will not abide by a city council’s unconstitutional ban. Our officers wear masks to protect themselves from being doxxed and targeted by known and suspected terrorist sympathizers. Not only is ICE law enforcement facing a more than 1,300 percent increase in assaults against them, but we’ve also seen thugs launch websites to reveal officers’ identity.”
On the other hand, the Denver City Council didn’t mince words when it approved the ban.
“It’s very disturbing to me, as an American, to see masked agents on the street,” said Councilman Kevin Flynn who represents District 2. “I don’t know what the best way is to enforce our immigration laws, but I think I know the worst way when I see it.”
“I said all along, this was a slam dunk,” added Councilman Darrell Watson of District 9.
Last month, a federal judge struck down a California law prohibiting federal agents from wearing masks. But, the city council says it made sure its ordinance is enforceable.
You have to treat all law enforcement the same,” said City Council President Amanda Sandoval. “So, our sheriffs can’t have masks. Our State Patrol can’t have masks. And federally you can’t have masks. And we delineate that within the ordinance which, that’s where California got the issue.”
Sandoval said she was monitoring the legal process and comparing the two ordinances to ensure they would be good to go.
Although the city council believes the ordinance is constitutional, the Denver Police Department says it’s still working to determine what implementation could look like, and provided this statement to CBS Colorado:
“Our Safety departments are working with the City Attorney and bill sponsors to determine what implementation could look like. Of utmost importance is discretion and prioritizing de-escalation when encountering these situations. Our goal is to apply this ordinance in a way that builds trust and transparency without putting officers, deputies, or the public at risk.”
Coupled with the city’s new executive order, Sandoval believes Denver now has the necessary guidelines in place.
“A map for residents to understand predictability, and that’s what I always want, is what can the residents be able to rely on.”
There are exemptions in place for the ban, for example: during an active undercover operation, when gear is required for physical safety, and for personnel performing SWAT duties.
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DENVER — More than 24 hours after the United States and Israel attacked Iran, Coloradans are continuing to express their feelings about what the attack means not only for the world, but here in our state.
For the second straight day, Coloradans expressed their opinions on the steps of the state Capitol about the attack by the US and Israel on Iran.
But instead of anger, as was the case on Saturday, the tone on Sunday was more cheerful.
“Today it’s a celebration about like getting our freedom back, and we would love to have people to be happy with us,” said Forzun Yalme, who helped organize the event with Free Iran Colorado.
For some Iranian-Americans, the news of the attack brings a new sense of hope that freedom is near.
“For me to be Iranian-American, in 47 years here, I learned about democracy and human rights and what I like,” detailed Amir Tosh, another member of Free Iran Colorado. “I want to transfer what your values are for democracy, human rights, freedom to my country, my motherland.”
Denver rally shows divided feelings over U.S.-Israel action against Iran
“My uncle and grandma, grandparents, they were all so happy about what happened, because we can, like, now feel the freedom,” explained Yalme.
But some Iranian-Americans are more cautious.
Colorado’s only Iranian-American state representative, Yara Zokaie, doubts the operation will have a significant impact to Iran’s leadership.
“I’m sympathetic to people who want regime change by any means necessary, but I think we also need to stop and realize what this actually means,” said Zokaie. “Regime change is not something that can happen in one airstrike.”
Zokaie admits she herself was elated to hear Iran’s supreme leader and other top officials were killed in the attack.
But she hopes Coloradans remember the innocent people who have already been killed and those who are more likely to come.
“I ask that we remember the humanity of people in the Middle East as this news unfolds. I ask that we call for a peaceful resolution that we empower Iranian people who will bring change from within, and that we call for no war with Iran,” said Zokaie.
Several people at today’s event at the Capitol approached our Denver7 team. They shared their gratitude for President Donald Trump, the US military, and the Israelis for their action in helping bring freedom to Iran.
They hope others will see that as well. They plan on being here for the next hour and a half or so.
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