Cars and campers park along Hunnell Road in Bend in September.

Oregon has seen a dramatic rise in the number of people who are homeless, and Central Oregon has some of the highest rates in the country of unsheltered homelessness among unaccompanied youth and families with children, a report of 2022 data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development shows.

The report only tells part of the story.

The number of unaccompanied minors and families with children who are homeless and unsheltered is likely much larger, said Eliza Wilson, the director of runaway and homeless youth programs for J Bar J Youth Services.

In 2022, 373 families with children were homeless and unsheltered in Central Oregon, which is around 86% of all of homeless families with children in Central Oregon, according to the report. People who are homeless and unsheltered are typically living outside in makeshift shelters, tents or trailers or RVs.

In the same year, there were 103 unaccompanied homeless youth living unsheltered in Central Oregon, which is almost 74% of the entire homeless unaccompanied youth population in Central Oregon. These are some of the highest rates in the nation.

“It’s always an undercount,” Wilson said.

She said she wasn’t surprised by the numbers, but it’s always a shock to see Central Oregon listed in a leading national position, she said.

Central Oregon’s lack of shelter beds for unaccompanied youth and families, and its lack of available shelter beds in general, are a key reason the unsheltered numbers are so high, Wilson said.

Oregon has an estimated total of 17,959 people who are homeless, and 11,088 of them, or around 62%, are unsheltered, according to the 2022 HUD report.

“States in the West reported some of the highest percentages of all people experiencing homelessness who were counted in unsheltered locations,” the report read.

Between 2020 and 2022, Oregon saw one of the largest changes in homelessness in the country, with a 22.5% increase, or 3,304 people, according to the report. The state also has the highest population of families with children in the country with a total of 3,373 — and 59%, or 1,991, are unsheltered.

Rising housing costs could contribute to the high number of families experiencing unsheltered homelessness in Central Oregon, Kara Pileggi, the McKinney-Vento Act liaison for the Redmond School District, wrote in an email. The McKinney-Vento Act is a national program that ensures equal education and opportunity for homeless children and youth.

“I have spoken to a few families this year who have rented for years, but due to rent increases they could no longer afford their rent,” Pileggi said.

Many of the families she encounters are “doubled up,” which means they live with other families or friends due to economic hardship, she said. Some are living in RVs or trailers parked on a friend or family member’s property; some are living on federal land, and some are in motels, hotels or homeless shelters, she said.

The number of homeless students in Redmond has remained steady over the past few years, she said. Last year she had 185 students who qualify under McKinney-Vento, and this school year, she has 170 students, she said.

Often, the students are estranged from their parents, she said.

“Either they were kicked out of the home and no longer supported by parents or guardians or they choose to leave and live with other family members and or friends,” Pileggi said.

HUD reports the data to Congress, but the high rates of homelessness in Central Oregon and the rest of the state don’t necessarily mean more funding, Wilson said. Federal funding is often a year behind, she said. The hope is that the HUD data alerts Congress that there is a problem in Central Oregon, and funding will eventually trickle in, she said.

“We’re doing the best we can, but we need more resources,” Wilson said.