Estimate of county’s homeless revised down to 9,432

There are nearly 2,000 fewer homeless people in the county on any given day than originally estimated last month.

A math correction brought the Southern Nevada Homeless Census and Survey’s initial report of 11,269 homeless people down to 9,432 in its revised publication.

The change means there are 29 percent fewer homeless people living in the valley this year than in 2009.

“Part of the challenge is that we had some issues with getting all of the information together that needed to be done,” said Michele Fuller-Hallauer, coordinator of the Southern Nevada Regional Planning Coalition’s Committee on Homelessness. “They were under a tight deadline pressure. They were trying to give us numbers so we could publish, but it is fixed now.”

She said the biggest error came when the reporting agency used the wrong multiplier, calculating with the total population rather than number of households, in counting hidden homeless people.

The number of hidden homeless — people who camp or squat on private property — is nearly half of what it was two years ago.

Fuller-Hallauer said outreach for prevention and placing people in permanent housing have contributed to the change.

“We need to take a moment and celebrate the success we have had so far,” she said. “We have a long way to go, but we’re making progress.”