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Final 4.15.11 <br /> 11 <br /> <br />Disabilities Mental health remains the number one reported disability among the homeless population in Kittitas County (28.3% in 210); mental health disability has been the leading disability among homeless individuals in Kittitas County since 2006. On the other hand, the 2010 number (n=30) is less than half the number reported in 2006 (n=62), so that is encouraging. The second most commonly reported disability in 2010 is alcohol or drug abuse (17.9%). This is similar to all years since 2006 except 2008, when the second most commonly reported disability was permanent physical/mental disability. <br />Cause of Homelessness Inability to pay rent or mortgage or eviction due to non-payment has increased over the past several years to become the number one reason for homelessness in Kittitas County (23.1% of reasons given in 2010, up from 8.8% in 2006). In 2010, other reasons frequently given for homelessness include mental illness (12.7%) and loss of a job (10.8%). These values have been fairly steady since 2006, though job loss was listed as a reason of homeless less frequently in 2008. Mental illness was reported by only 32 people as the reason they were homeless, and alcohol or drug use was down to 21. The best news is that those reporting recent discharge from an institution or jail as the cause of their homelessness was down to 7 in 2010, from a high of 15 in 2006. This may be attributable to the grant Kittitas County made in 2009 to EnTrust’s HEARTH program, to deal with the problem of recently discharged individuals not having housing options. Our funding for that program ran out in Oct. 2010. <br />Sources of Household Income There were 39 homeless people reporting no income in 2006; in 2010 that number had increased to 51. In addition, the number of homeless people reporting public assistance as their source of household income dropped 50%, from 62 in 2006 to 31 in 2010. As public assistance becomes increasingly scarce, we may see an increase in this pattern. Most homeless households receive income from social security, relatives or friends, public assistance, or no income at all. Since 2009, more households are reporting no source of income at all (23.5% in 2009, 41.8% in 2010). A smaller proportion of households are reporting income from day laborer type jobs (7.4% in 2009, 1.6% in 2010), social security (14.7% in 2009, 7.4% in 2010), and relatives or friends (10.3% in 2009, 7.4% in 2010).