WENATCHEE -- The numbers are in. They show 798 homeless persons in Chelan and Douglas counties, more than triple the number counted during a one-day tally last year.

Of those, more than one-third are youths. Last year's Jan. 26 count of area shelters and feeding programs found 231 homeless persons, none younger than 18.

More than two dozen representatives from government and social service agencies listened Wednesday as Phoebe Nelson, who coordinated this year's Jan. 26 point-in-time count, presented a draft of the new data at the Confluence Technology Center.

Nelson, who also directs of the Women's Resource Center in Wenatchee, attributed the larger figure to an effort for the first time this year to count homeless students and those living on the streets.

Of the nearly 798 homeless persons counted on Jan. 26, 331 were living in emergency shelter or transitional housing, results show. And 323 were younger than 18.

Nelson said an overall increase was anticipated.

"This is just information we thought we'd been missing in the past because we didn't have a good way to get that information," Nelson said during a phone interview after the meeting. "Having that data definitely helps us with our planning."

The Jan. 26 count, conducted throughout the nation, is meant to get a handle on the number of people without a home.

A 2005 state mandate also required counties to form a 10-year plan to cut their homeless populations in half.

In Chelan and Douglas counties, questionnaires were distributed at shelters, feeding programs and libraries throughout Wenatchee and East Wenatchee, Nelson said. She said school districts countywide also were asked to report information about homeless youths, though not all have responded.

A group of formerly homeless persons searched along riverfronts and under bridges, while high-school-aged volunteers talked to teenagers near the Wenatchee Valley Mall, Nelson said.

Information was also gathered from the Chelan County Regional Justice Center, law enforcement, the U.S. Forest Service and Chelan County PUD, she said.

Only persons who claimed to be homeless or were identified by volunteers to be homeless were included in the count, and all duplicate entries were taken out, Nelson said.

The first time you do it, "what you really learn is how to do it better next time," Nelson said of conducting an exhaustive homeless count. She said next year she hopes to get the word out to homeless people so more are included in the count.

A pamphlet listing local resources for homeless families and individuals is being created for distribution in June, she said.

Those who attended the Wednesday meeting also agreed to look into doing another homeless count during July, when the migrant farmworker population is present and more people are camped outdoors, Nelson said.

Sharon Altaras can be reached at 665-1169 or by e-mail at altaras@wenworld.com.

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Defining homelessness

* The official definition: An individual who lacks a "fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence" or who is temporarily living in a shelter or institution or in a public or private place not designed as a "regular sleeping accommodation for human beings." Source: U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development

* In other words: "You have to be living in a time-limited homeless program or outside in a car, tent, that sort of thing," said Ted Kelleher, homeless-programs manager for the state Department of Community, Trade and Economic Development.

* About the count: Of the 798 homeless persons counted on Jan. 26 in Chelan and Douglas counties, 331 did not meet the federal definition of homelessness because they were "couch-surfing" or staying with family or friends, said Phoebe Nelson, who coordinated the count. She said counties are allowed to include those considered "at risk of being homeless" in their counts in order to get state funding.

-- Sharon Altaras, World staff

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By the numbers

798 homeless individuals

323 younger than 18

541 males

328 females

331 living in shelters

304 living with family or friends

115 living outdoors

42 living in a vehicle

270 reported some kind of disability

Source: Phoebe Nelson, homeless count coordinator