New data released Monday show Maine is experiencing a drop in the number of people experiencing homelessness for the third year in a row, a decline largely attributed to the state moving away from using motels as emergency shelters.

The Point in Time Count is an annual assessment of homelessness conducted by the Maine Continuum of Care and MaineHousing to fulfill requirements from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

It’s a snapshot of the number of people experiencing homelessness on the night the survey is conducted, which this year was Jan. 22.

The assessment found 2,413 experiencing homelessness this year on the night of the count, a drop of 282 — or about 10% — from 2024. The decline also represents a downward trend from a 2022 high of 4,411, suggesting a return to pre-pandemic homelessness levels.

Here are some things to know about the data.

How many people are homeless in Maine?

This year’s Point in Time Count found 2,413 people were experiencing homelessness on the night of the count. That number includes 1,410 people staying in shelters, 601 people in transitional housing, 281 people who were unsheltered and 121 people in emergency shelter in motels.

The survey notes, however, that while the data is useful, “it is a limited tool drawn from a single day of the year and should not be seen as providing a complete picture of homelessness in Maine over time.”

Outreach workers also do not count people who do not agree to be included.

Is this a drop from previous years?

Yes. The numbers are down from 2,695 last year and represent an even bigger drop from the count during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2022, the count found 4,411 people experiencing homelessness, and 4,258 in 2023.

What’s behind the decline?

Maine saw a sharp increase in homelessness from 2021 to 2022 primarily due to the use of motels as emergency shelter during the COVID-19 pandemic. And while those numbers have come down over the last three years, part of the reason for the decline is that it’s become harder once again to count homeless people.

Motels expanded the capacity for sheltering the homeless and drew people out of informal arrangements such as couch surfing that made it more difficult to include them in the count and that are not included in HUD’s definition of homelessness. The use of (and funding for) motels as emergency shelter has declined, however, with the end of the pandemic.

As a result, more people have returned to those informal living arrangements. Overall homelessness numbers have gone down, but the number of people in shelters and on the street is up. And as shelter capacity has increased in Maine, beds have been quick to fill.

Dan Hodgkins, senior director of social work at Preble Street, a Portland-based nonprofit that provides social services and operates four shelters, including three in Portland and one in Bangor, said it’s hard to know for sure if homelessness has actually declined since the pandemic.

“I do know that what we’re seeing is most shelters are pretty full and almost all are full most nights,” he said.

Hodgkins said the numbers show there are still many people in Maine experiencing homelessness.

“One of the outcomes (of the count), I hope, is that people see the need to invest the resources that are necessary to support people experiencing homelessness, both at the shelter level and also in making sure there are supportive services,” he said.

How do Maine’s homelessness numbers break down by race?

While 91.3% of Maine’s population is white, only 58.4% of the homeless population is white, according to this year’s Point in Time Count. And while 1.7% of the state’s population is Black of African American, 31.6% of the homeless population is Black or African American.

Seven percent of the homeless population identifies as multiracial, compared to 4.7% of the overall population.

Part of the reason for the discrepancy is the influx of asylum seekers to Maine, many of whom rely on the shelter system and experience homelessness due to their inability to immediately secure work permits, according to MaineHousing spokesperson Scott Thistle, though minorities also make up a disproportionate share of the homeless population at the national level due to systemic inequities.

How are efforts to mitigate homelessness factoring in?

This year’s decline in homelessness is also a reflection of work undertaken by the city of Portland, Prosperity Maine, Catholic Charities and others to help people secure housing, MaineHousing said in a news release Monday.

An increase in the number of homeless people who are sheltered indicates greater capacity, particularly in winter warming centers, while a decrease in the number of people in transitional housing shows a likely shift toward more permanent housing serving the same population.

The state, city of Portland and Catholic Charities Maine teamed up in 2022 to launch a transitional housing program in Saco for asylum seekers, a program that is now expected to draw to a close in September. The site had served 192 households, or 737 people, as of Dec. 31, and a spokesperson for Catholic Charities said Monday that 81% of people who have left the program have transitioned to permanent housing.

There are currently 25 families remaining at the hotel where the program runs, nine of whom have signed leases.

MaineHousing also announced over $2 million in grants last fall for the operation of warming centers, after the funding was approved by Gov. Janet Mills and the Legislature.

In Androscoggin County, the count of unsheltered homeless people dropped to seven this year, compared to 54 in 2024. Thistle, MaineHousing’s spokesperson, said that while the Point In Time data simply provides a snapshot of one night, the drop between years can be attributed to Lewiston’s winter warming center, which was operated by Kaydenz Kitchen at the former Schemengee’s Bar & Grille on Lincoln Street.

Overall, Maine had a greater capacity this past winter at warming centers and the Lewiston numbers are “a direct reflection of that,” he said.

Kevin Boilard, director of Kaydenz Kitchen, said the Point in Time Count numbers are “a positive reflection of the value of even temporary shelter services,” which can bring individuals off the street and provide access to a range of services.

Kaydenz Kitchen, which was selected by Lewiston to operate Androscoggin County’s first 24-hour permanent shelter in the city, is working to secure additional funding and a location for the project, but is nearing a MaineHousing deadline.

When asked how a permanent shelter could further the city’s efforts to combat homelessness, Boilard said, “a permanent solution would speak for itself in the long-term ability to impact the number of unhoused individuals living on the streets on any given day.”

Sun Journal staff writer Andrew Rice contributed to this report.