The number of homeless people rose in January for the sixth consecutive year, according to the 2014 Point in Time survey the city is releasing Tuesday.

Indications are that the significant increase is occurring among singles and those who are not currently in a shelter setting, according to the survey conducted as part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s national study.

This year’s study centered around a one-night count of sheltered homeless on the night of Jan. 22 and unsheltered homeless for the seven nights that followed.

The key findings:

» The overall count was 4,712, up 3.4 percent from 2013 and 29.5 percent from 2009.

» The unsheltered homeless count was 1,633, up 11.5 percent from 2013 and 36.9 percent from 2009.

» The sheltered homeless count was 3,079, actually a 0.4 percent decrease from the 3,091 from 2013 and a 25.9 percent increase from 2009.

For purposes of the study, sheltered homeless include those staying in emergency, transitional or safe-haven-type programs.

Mayor Kirk Caldwell’s top lieutenants are expected to use the findings as ammunition in their battle to keep full funding alive for his Housing First initiative when the City Council Budget Committee meets to make its final recommendations for the upcoming 2015 city budget.

The Housing First concept makes providing permanent housing for the chronically homeless the top focus ahead of addressing related issues often associated with homelessness, like substance abuse and mental illness. Traditional homeless programs have made a treatment of those conditions a requirement for obtaining permanent housing, a turnoff for many who are considered chronically homeless.

In April the Budget Committee proposed cutting $1 million from the $3 million Caldwell had set aside in the operating budget for Housing First and about $4.2 million from an $18.9 million capital improvements allocation. Among the things the Council wants to do instead is raise the amount of money earmarked for the Family Justice Center, being pushed by Prosecuting Attorney Keith Kane­shiro, to $4.2 million. The Caldwell budget sets aside only $2 million for the Makiki housing proj­ect aimed at low-income domestic violence victims.

City Department of Community Services Director Pamela Witty-Oakland pointed out that the count showed 2,356 single people and 2,356 people described as part of families in the 2014 count. But among those described as sheltered, 92 percent of those in families were in some type of facility while only 38.7 percent of single homeless were in such a setting, she said.

"There is a greater need to help individuals," she said. "There are seven times more individuals that are unsheltered versus people in families."

The study noted that "of concern" was a 9.7 percent increase of those described as being severely mentally ill, with an increasingly larger proportion of them unsheltered.

Several Council leaders have suggested that Housing First traditionally has served more homeless singles than homeless families and that the administration should be diverting some of that money toward families.

Witty-Oakland said Monday that the city’s efforts have been focused on helping the chronically homeless, those who are in the most need. The 2014 count found 558 unsheltered homeless, a 10.5 percent increase from 2013 and a 43 percent increase from 2009.

"We think the data continues to support the focus on housing the chronically homeless individuals," she said. "Not that we don’t see the need for the families, but we believe that we already successfully fund the shelters that are supporting the families."

Regarding the 3,079 sheltered homeless, 911 were individuals, and 2,168 were part of 526 households with children. "These numbers are nearly flat when compared to the last two years and are indicative of the state of emergency and housing transitional programs on Oahu," the study said.

The study said data suggest the number of unsheltered homeless individuals has been undercounted over the years but is "being improved" due to improved counting techniques.

Regionally, the largest percentage of unsheltered homeless continues to be in downtown Hono­lulu (36.6 percent), with East Hono­lulu (19.7 percent) and the Wai­anae Coast (19.5 percent) second and third, respectively. But the downtown Hono­lulu and Wai­anae Coast regions both saw a decrease in unsheltered homeless while nearly all other regions saw significant increases, including East Hono­lulu, Ewa, Kane­ohe-Wai­ma­nalo and Wahiawa-North Shore.

CORRECTION: The unsheltered homeless count  was up 11.5 percent from 2013 in the 2014 Point in Time survey. An earlier version of this story and the story in Tuesday’s paper said it was up 36.9 percent.