The number of homeless counted annually in Hawaii has climbed 18 percent since 2010 while the national tally has dropped steadily, according to a report released Thursday by the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

This year’s annual "point-in-time" count found 6,918 people living on the streets and in homeless shelters across Hawaii on a single night in January, up from 5,834 four years earlier. Nationally the figures moved in the other direction, falling more than 9 percent since 2010 to 578,424 people identified as homeless in January.

As the situation reaches a crisis point here, government and nonprofit service providers are banding together to boost their efforts and hope to replicate the successes of other communities around the country.

"As a nation, we are successfully reducing homelessness in this country, especially for those who have been living on our streets as a way of life," Julian Castro, HUD secretary, said in a statement Thursday as he released the report. "There is still a tremendous amount of work ahead of us but it’s clear our strategy is working and we’re going to push forward till we end homelessness as we’ve come to know it."

The department’s 2014 Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress showed that the population in homeless shelters nationwide stayed relatively steady, but the unsheltered population shrank by 25 percent over the last four years. There was also a 33 percent drop in homelessness among veterans nationally in that period of time.

Meanwhile, in Hawaii the trend was sobering.

The sheltered population grew by 8 percent, and the unsheltered population took a 35 percent leap since 2010. The number of veterans counted as homeless also grew substantially, with 593 homeless veterans counted on a single night in January in the islands compared with 419 in 2010.

Part of the increase in Hawaii’s numbers in recent years is due to improved and more thorough efforts to find and tally the homeless, service providers say. Even as some people are moved into homes, others fall into homelessness, and still others are located who might have escaped notice previously.

"I think we are doing more accurate counts, with more agencies and more people participating, therefore we’re counting more people," said Darryl Vincent, chief operating officer of U.S. VETS and former chairman of Partners in Care, which helps conduct the counts. "The increase is not reflective of the good work that’s being done. It’s more reflective of the good data."

He added, "If you went around to every agency and ask how many people have been put into housing, it’s increasing, but there is something still feeding it."

Other factors pushing up Hawaii’s rate of homelessness are familiar to any local resident, notably the high cost of living, soaring rents and a severe shortage of affordable housing. And because the islands are a magnet not only to tourists, Hawaii must handle an influx of people from elsewhere who move here and wind up on the streets, Vincent noted.

Earlier this year the state was singled out as having the highest rate of homelessness among the 50 states, second only to Washington, D.C. The National Alliance to End Homelessness put the national average at 19 homeless people per 10,000 residents; in Hawaii the figure is 45 homeless per 10,000 residents.

"I think everyone has recognized the increase in homelessness," said Greg Payton, who volunteers as chairman of Partners in Care. "We all participate in the point-in-time count each year, and so we’re all aware that the numbers have not gone in the right direction."

He and other providers are hopeful that the recent creation of a coordinated system to assess and place the most vulnerable homeless will allow the state to make more headway.

They also believe more attention and resources directed toward housing the homeless will make a difference.

"More than 35 nonprofit homeless providers are participating in this Coordinated Assessment and Housing Placement System," said Payton, CEO of Mental Health Kokua. "Before, we all did good work. We did what we were supposed to do, but we did it independently of each other. With the coordinated approach we have now, all the providers can work together. We can share resources to be able to place people more quickly."

A new assessment tool looks at the specific needs of each individual, such as medical conditions, substance abuse or mental illness, and ranks individuals on a vulnerability index, making it easier to match them with the appropriate placement. Providers all will use the same tool and share information through a database.

"Everyone is working together, which is pretty amazing," said Jason Espero, director of Waikiki Health’s Care-A-Van, which offers outreach services to the homeless. "We are working for the same common goal, and that is to house our homeless and families. We are sharing resources, sharing landlord contacts, even sharing housing subsidy vouchers.

"With new housing resources coming to the pipeline, we now have the opportunity to house our chronically homeless — very, very vulnerable individuals we couldn’t house in the past due to lack of resources," Espero said. "With the state Housing First program and now the city’s Housing First program, these are key examples of what makes it easier to do our job."

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