Homelessness Up in Region, According to School of Social Work Annual Count

According to an annual point-in-time count led by the School of Social Work, the number of individuals and families experiencing homelessness in Northwest Arkansas has increased. Across Benton, Carroll, Madison and Washington counties, 507 individuals were counted as experiencing homelessness on the night of Jan. 30 this year. This is up from 412 who were counted a year earlier. Of these, 259 were unsheltered this year, up from 193 the year before — with the balances residing in emergency or transitional shelters.

The count is led by John Gallagher, an associate professor of social work, with the assistance of two social work students as part of their field education. It is prepared for the Northwest Arkansas Continuum of Care, a local nonprofit that organizes a community response to homelessness, to meet a funding requirement from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Roughly 60 volunteers — including at least 12 current students of the School of Social Work — and 20 community organizations collaborated on the count.

According to Gallagher, the 23% increase from last year "is best understood as a true increase in homelessness in NWA as well as some improved methods we implemented this year." He continued, saying that "importantly, we partnered with the Pick-Me-Up program from Genesis Church to recruit 10 currently unhoused individuals to help us identify locations and conduct interviews. Their knowledge of and trust among the community proved invaluable."

Gallagher noted that the other improvement was better utilizing the full week that HUD allows to conduct interviews. This included targeted events at parks in Springdale and Bentonville, as well as a meal provided by Genesis Church in Fayetteville the weekend after the main count.

Key findings from the count include high rates of disabilities (79%), fleeing domestic violence (17%) and having been in the foster care system (17%) among interviewed adults. Although it has plateaued a bit, Gallagher notes recent increases in homelessness among older adults has maintained — which is consistent with national trends. While seeing these individual characteristics as helping to explain which people become homeless, Gallagher focuses on the importance of the local housing and labor market in explaining trends over time both locally and nationally.

He added, "This is well established by research and echoed in the feedback we received from those interviewed." Here, Gallagher pointed to an open question offered to interviewed adults on which single factor they see as most explaining their homelessness. The two largest categories, by far, were employment/finances and housing costs.

For more information or to contribute to the 2026 count, contact Gallagher at jmgallag@uark.edu or 479-575-2368. More information on the current and historical counts can be found here.