Calling it the first comprehensive study on homelessness in West Virginia, the Department of Human Services released a new report highlighting demographics of the unhoused.
DoHS’ Bureau for Behavioral Health released its “Assessment of West Virginia Homeless Population” Monday afternoon. The report was required with the passage of Senate Bill 239 in 2023, requiring the commissioner of Bureau for Behavioral Health to engage certain providers and leaders to study the homeless demographic.
According to a summary of the 169-page report, 58% of the unhoused population who participated in the survey self-identified as male, with 13% self-identifying as Black or African American. That number is higher than the 3.7% of Black West Virginia residents according to the latest U.S. Census numbers.
The average age of the unhoused in the state ranged from age 25 to age 44. While the state’s substance use disorder crisis and opioid addiction feeds into West Virginia’s unhoused numbers, the report highlighted other issues. These include individuals released from state incarceration, a lack of affordable housing, and those either unemployed or no longer looking for work.
Dr. William Mercer is the founder of Project HOPE, which works with medical providers in the Ohio Valley to offer health services to the unhoused community in Wheeling and the surrounding area. He said the report reaffirms the need for state support for mitigating issues facing the unhoused.