Survey: Over 1,000 displaced

A recent report that found a combination of individuals who are in displaced households or living in substandard and non-standard hoomes—according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s definitions—found a total of 1,018 sheltered and unsheltered persons on Saipan alone.

According to the Point-In-Time data, there is a total of 290 households comprising 1,018 individuals that are considered displaced or living non-standard households. Of that number, 688 are a combination of adults and adult children, and 330 children.

The CNMI Homeless Prevention Coalition under the Northern Marianas Housing Corp. and the Division of Youth Services handed out a total of 564 questionnaires about these standards during the third annual count in January.

Despite the delays caused by Super Typhoon Yutu last October, the coalition was able to get the count done in time and was able to prepare the count as thoroughly as possible by differentiating the displaced households, substandard households, and non-standard households.

According to the count, a total of 151 households composed of 769 individuals were considered living in substandard homes by HUD standards. Of that number, 511 are a combination of adults and adult children and 258 are children.

The coalition has already submitted the data to HUD as part of the requirements to avail of the Continuum Care Grant that will address this matter. The coalition also received the Continuum Care Planning Grant to help with their planning process for this project.

The amount of responses to the survey questionnaires has increased in the past two years, with 2019 seeing a total of 500 valid responses.

Homeless Prevention Coalition’s chair Vivian Sablan said that they were also able to get counts for Tinian and Rota, and the numbers have already been submitted to HUD.

Tinian saw 104 households that are considered displaced or living in substandard or non-standard homes, comprising 119 adults and adult children and 45 children in all.

Rota saw 11 such households, comprising 13 adults and adult children and eight children.

The CNMI Homeless Prevention Coalition is made up of a combination of agencies such as Karidat Social Services, the Substance Abuse and Rehabilitation Program, the Northern Marianas Protection and Advocacy Systems, Inc., Office of Vocational Rehabilitation, and other agencies.