Researchers correct initial 4.2% reported by King County Point-in-Time Count

Seattle, WA—New data shows that there are nearly three times as many unsheltered Native Americans and Alaska Natives in King County than previously stated earlier this year. Native peoples are 1-2% of the overall King County population yet make up nearly 15% of the overall homeless population, not 4.2% as previously reported by the King County Regional Homelessness Authority (KCRHA) Point-in-Time Count in June.

This initial data point of 4.2% was strongly disputed by Chief Seattle Club. Abigail Echo-hawk, director of Urban Indian Health Institute, and Derrick Belgarde, Chief Executive Officer at Chief Seattle Club, worked with the University of Washington to correct the record. 

“For years we have flagged this issue with the City and County, but KCHRA kept releasing bad data,” said Belgarde. “It is so critical that we have the clearest picture possible of the number of homeless relatives so that we can tackle the problem. The data matters. Critical funding, resources, and peoples’ lives depend upon it.” 

Echo-Hawk and Zack Almquist, the University of Washington lead researcher of the initial Point-in-Time count, worked together to correct the data. The most significant issue they found is that the count grouped the majority of the unsheltered Native peoples into the “multi-racial” category, so that Native Americans and Alaska Natives who also identified with other races were not included in the overall Native homelessness number. Once they disaggregated the data in the multi-racial category, they found that unsheltered American Indians and Alaska Natives make up 16% of the total unsheltered population of people experiencing homelessness and 6.5% of the sheltered population in King County.

“We unfortunately see this flaw in research all the time. We call this data genocide,” said Echo-Hawk. “People who identify as American Indian or Alaska Native in combination with another race are too often erased from data that is used to inform policy and funding. We know this is a problem, yet we see it over and over again.”

The second issue flagged by researchers was the methodology for counting the number of homeless Native peoples, an issue flagged by Chief Seattle Club at the outset of the Point-in-Time Count. 

“The King County Point-in-Time Count relied upon people reporting to a central hub to have their data collected,” said Belgarde. “There is so much distrust by Native peoples that there has to be a safe place for people to report to, a place where they are met by members of their own community, especially in this current political environment where reporting to ‘officials’ feels especially dangerous.” 

The recommendations issued by the UW and UIHI include a fix to the multi-racial category where people who check multiple races, including American Indian/Alaska Native, are captured in the overall count of Native peoples, and more collaboration with Native organizations to ensure that a methodology takes into account the best strategies for collecting data on marginalized communities.

“To their credit,” said Belgarde, “UW was willing to collaborate to fix the problem. Too often, outside institutions dismiss our expertise and perspectives, confusing equity for equality. We hope Point-in-Time counts nationwide learn from this: if you count Native people without listening to Native people, you’re going to get it wrong.” 

Click here to read the research report.