Comedy Show Feature on Homelessness

HUD Secretary on the Daily Show

What does it say about the major media that a good solid discussion about homelessness is done on the Daily Show?   Last night, Shaun Donovan appeared on Jon Stewart's Daily Show, and for 10 minutes we got to hear about homelessness and poverty on national television.  For clarification, this is a comedy show, and there was a real discussion about the huge increase in family homelessness and the number of children that find themselves homeless.   Now there are a few things that need clarified with regard to the interview that were just spin and not based in reality, but the bottom line it was nice to hear the discussion. 

• Everyone who watches the show knows Jon Stewart is a New York Mets' fan.  Psst, Shaun, watch the show for a couple of weeks before appearing on it so you seem hip and with it. Never ask a Mets' fan if they are New York Yankee's fan.
• We did not just figure out that housing was better than shelter even for the mentally ill.  We started closing down affordable housing back in the 1980s so what were we supposed to do?  Congregate living is cheaper than offering an apartment, medical care, food and case managers for every single person in need.  65,000 people declared themselves in need of housing when the Section 8 voucher list was opened.  We do not have the money or ability to serve that number of people, and so shelters are the best option when so many people are in need. If we had a national housing strategy, we would not need shelters in the United States. If we supported our voucher programs, our public housing and HUD housing with the the same zeal that we fund the Defense Department there would be no homelessness in America.  Unfortunately, we do not and so we have opened shelters to prevent people from dying on the streets.  The only way that it is cheaper to offer housing instead of shelter, is if the resident can contribute to the rent.  So, if you can return the person to the workforce quickly and they start paying rent then housing is cheaper than shelter.  Otherwise a bed in a shelter is way cheaper than an apartment.  
• The 20% decrease in veterans homelessness is BOGUS!!!  Just read the report that HUD published and see all the qualifiers at the beginning of the report.  They are using estimates of estimates.   They are using a one night count that is done well in some places, but barely done in other places.  It is like asking store clerks at Walmart and the local Shell stations to do a one night count to come up with the US population in the Census.  These numbers are not real for veterans.  If we cannot even figure out how many veterans are homeless how are we supposed to solve the problem by 2015?
• "We are going to raise the amount we spend on homelessness by 15%" according to Donovan.  This is only if Congress agrees to the President's budget, and that does not take into account the decrease in funding for other services that homeless people rely on.  It does not make sense to increase funding on homelessness at the same time as you decrease money for vouchers or eliminate homeless prevention spending.  If housing is no longer affordable and poverty increases, where do these people go except to the shelters?  There are massive cuts to housing and the end of the stimulus while at the same time increasing homeless funding by a small amount.  There is no comparison between the two--rental assistance is being cut by the billions while homeless funding is going up in the millions. Donovan's statement only tells a small part of the story.
• People are not chronic.  People may have a chronic disease, but homelessness is not contagious.  
• The stimulus no doubt helped millions avoid shelter, and the administration should be praised for pushing for these funds.  But what was not mentioned was that these funds are ending this summer.  With the housing system still a mess, what are we going to do going forward?  There are going to be more and more families struggling who can't keep up their payments and will turn to the shelters.  We are not going to have eviction money available to these families. 
• The settlement money discussion:  Why didn't our leading newsman in America, Jon Stewart, ask why they have not solved this foreclosure crisis in the last three years?  This voluntary program has not worked, and when is the administration going to go after these banks to write down these loans to stabilize the housing market?  $26 billion is chump change for the instability in the housing sector.  This was fraud that took place and we need a settlement of $2.6 trillion to clear out the abandoned houses in America and make a down payment on rebuilding our cities.  

There was a second part of the interview that was not broadcast, but placed on the Daily Show website.  A couple of comments from the bonus material.

• A legitimate question about the total number of homeless people was avoided by Donovan with an answer dealing with the Complete Count on one day.  As we have said before, counting on one day the number of people living without homes is like trying to count the number of Skittles falling in the rainbow while watching the commercial.  It is so flawed that it is a meaningless number.  It does not give us a window into homelessness or even give an assessment of the funds used by Congress to address homelessness.  It is a giant waste of time. 
• Yes, there are a lot of children who are becoming homeless, and why doesn't HUD consider the child sleeping on a sofa at a friends house to be homeless? They have this complicated list of questions to determine homelessness and there are millions in America who do not qualify by HUD as being homeless.  It was nice to hear that Donovan and the President are focused on the poverty figure, which is more accurate than the figure regarding homelessness.  
• Having a national discussion about the causes of solutions of poverty is always good, but why does it have to happen on a comedy show?
• "Get sober and we will find a place for you."  The Housing First strategy is great, but if you have 8,000 people using the shelters in Cleveland and you build 100 units of housing a year, how many years will it take to solve this problem at that rate? 

Thanks to the Daily Show for featuring this debate, but sometimes you need a translator to cut through some of the spin from government officials.

Brian 
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Privacy for Homeless People 2

Public Comment Due to HUD February 7, 2012

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless is recommending those experiencing homelessness and local advocates to respond to the call for public comments with regard to the release of Homeless Management Information Systems requirements.  These rules are critical to the protection of privacy for homeless people, and could have a major impact on how the shelters are funded going forward.  We have an advocacy alert available to those interested in responding just send us an e-mail and we will pass that along to you [neoch (at) advocacy (dot) org.].

To respond go to:   http://www.regulations.gov
Enter the Docket Number:  FR-5475-P-01
or the Title:  Homeless Management Information Systems Requirements.

If you do decide to respond, please send us a copy of your comments to our advocacy e-mail.  Here is the subject of our comments.

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless has accepted the use of HMIS to improve the delivery of services to those experiencing homelessness, but we do not support the use of HMIS as a system to report the extent of homelessness to Congress.  We have seen that the statistics are often mistaken for a count of the total number of people homeless in a city or county.  No matter how many qualifiers are included in the national Annual Homeless Assessment Report, both elected officials and the media mismanage the data as a complete count of homelessness.  There is such wide disparity in how this data is collected that there is no way to compare among service provider and certainly between cities this case management data.  We believe that a voluntary case management system would be worthwhile to collect data, but a mandatory system that attempts to collect an unduplicated count is nearly impossible in such a fractured system.

In a period of tightening budgets and federal cuts, we believe that these resources could be redirected to basic human services or housing assistance instead of the administrative services of counting people. We see the value of one electronic case management system overseen by HUD used by every social service provider in a community.  If the eventual goal is to arrive at the number of homeless people in a city or state as stated by Congress, we believe that HUD would receive much better information by funding local experts to conduct a census in representative cities.  We believe that local universities or foundations in various size representative cities, suburbs, and rural jurisdictions could develop an accurate estimate of the number of homeless people and then they could use that data to extrapolate a national estimate of homelessness. 

Here are a few of the areas that we have concerns:

1. It should be made clear that there is not a minimum participation rate by clients for the social service provider.  The user who is experiencing a housing emergency and refuses to enter data should not result in a penalty or an issue with the performance standards for the local social service provider. 
2. We believe that the security standards should emphatically and unequivocally state that law enforcement agencies should not have access to personal identifying information contained within the HMIS data without a warrant signed by a member of the judicial branch of government.
3. We believe that the requirement for every publicly funded homeless service provider contribute data to a central management system is an unfunded mandate from the federal government.  There should be dedicated resources separate from the Emergency Solutions Grant or Continuum funding to implement this project.
4. We believe that there are a number of state privacy laws that make it difficult for local agencies to submit data under these proposed rules.  
5. NEOCH does not believe that an HMIS Lead organization should also be a service provider.
6. The security standards, local policies and procedures and grievance process should be posted on an easily accessible publicly available website.
7. There are no protections for clients outlined in the regulations for improper usage or improper release of data especially privacy violations by an HMIS Lead organization.
8. Since this data is being used by the public and Congress for planning and local decision making on the proper allocation of resources, there should be a way for advocates or the public to challenge the data’s accuracy.

If you have questions or need more detail feel free to contact us.  Even if you disagree with our comments, it is important to have the public weigh in on these rules.  These requirements are forcing every publicly funded shelter in America to require everyone entering to provide data and then that data is compiled in an annual report and delivered to Congress.  While I understand the importance of data, it just seems like we are surrendering to the reality that we will always have homeless people in the United States.  We are forced to construct this elaborate infrastructure to keep track of those people without housing, because homeless families are going to be with us for generations.  We are resigned to have detailed rules about the counting of homeless people, and we are going to need shelters for decades into the future.  I want some political will to end homelessness this year.  I want to not have to count people next year with all the vacant housing in the United States.  Maybe I am a dreamer, but writing down all these rules to count homeless people just seems like we are agreeing to sign on to a similar document presented to General Lee in the parlor of McLean House in April of 1865.  

Brian Davis
Community Organizer

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

State of Homelessness 2010

Homeless Stats for 2009 Based on the Poverty in a City

NEOCH is working on publishing our State of Homelessness report. Every year we update the number of people living in poverty, and then using the Census data we extrapolate the number of people who became homeless during that year. The most recent poverty information available from the US Census is from 2009.

Top 11 Counties in Ohio by population in Ohio sorted by percentage of people living in poverty

County/Major City Number living in Poverty % Living in Poverty
Lucas/Toledo .................. 80,184 ................................... ...... 17.3%
Mahoning/Youngstown........ 39,535 .................................. ..... 16.7%
Cuyahoga/Cleveland ......... 209,216 .... ................................... 16.4%
Franklin/Columbus ............. 181,719 ................................... ......15.8%
Montgomery/Dayton .......... 82,015 .........................................15.4%
Hamilton/Cincinnati ........... 121,418 ..........................................14.2%
Summit/Akron ................. 70,513 ..........................................13.0%
Butler/Hamilton ................ 46,124 ...........................................12.7%
Lorain/Lorain/Elyria.............. 38,519 ..........................................12.6%
Stark/Canton ...................... 46,674 .........................................12.3%
Lake/Painesville ................ 18,232 ...........................................7.7%

Other Counties in Northeast Ohio sorted by percentage of people living in poverty
Ashtabula/Jefferson.............. 16,223 ............................................. 16.1%
Columbiana/Lisbon ................16,374 ...............................................15.2%
Trumbull/Warren ...................29,422 ..............................................14.0%
Portage/Ravenna.................... 20,164 ..............................................12.8%
Erie /Sandusky ........................9,313 .................................................12.1%
Geauga/Chardon .....................7,231 .................................................7.3%
Medina/Medina .....................10,268 ................................................5.9%

OHIO State total ....................830,204 .............................................13.6%

These are big increases in poverty for nearly every county probably due to the financial downturn of 2008. Stay tuned for the full report, which will be out in the next few weeks.
Brian

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Counting Homeless People

What if the Census Counted People Like HUD?

I hate the Homeless Management Information System, because it is such bad data that it harms our community. Garbage in: garbage out is my biggest issue with this system. It is the law of the land that every shelter receiving public funds must submit data to the Department of Housing and Urban Development or they are at risk of losing federal and state dollars. The problem is that it misses so many people that using this data as any reflection of the number of homeless people diminishes the extent of the problem.

I was thinking, what if the Census were conducted in much the same way as the count of homeless people? What if there was no dedicated money going to the count every ten years, and it was all volunteer? What if there was very little training available to the volunteers who were expected to complete the Census count in every city? What if those volunteers made a pledge of confidentiality, but there was no oversight or law protecting the privacy rights of those who answered the Census questionnaire? What would the count look like if the government enlisted grocery store clerks, gas station attendants, and cable tv repair men to do their jobs but also oversee the Census count at the same time? That is the system we have with HUD. Case workers who all have full time jobs are expected to volunteer to submit data to the federal government to come up with a count of the number of homeless people. The shelters do not receive any additional funds or regular training about counting or confidentiality. While the bubbly and friendly young person who scans my milk and cereal at Dave's Supermarket may be good at her job, I don't want her to be in charge of the US Census. I also don't think the guys going out at night to save people from the cold should be the individuals in charge of the count of homeless people.

An all volunteer US Census would also allow for regional disparities in the count. San Diego city officials could decide that they are going to make sure that their grocery store clerks and cable tv staff were trained and spent a couple of weeks only on the US census. They may decide that the 10 year payoff in federal funds is worth spending a great deal of local money getting the count right. While Detroit would just not have the money to pay volunteers to count, and their numbers would suffer. So, San Diego would have a large growing population and Detroit would shrink in the US Census. This is what happens with the homeless count. Some communities put real money into the effort, and others rely entirely on volunteers. This creates huge disparities in the final numbers.

I have no problem with cable tv repair people, in fact, some of my best friends work for the local cable tv company, but I don't want them to ask me personal questions and then turn that information over to the government. I want someone who has to pledge that they will go to jail if they release any of my personal information while doing their job of counting the population. I want someone who is paid by the federal government to spend their full time counting people, and not volunteers working on other issues. The data generated from HMIS is unreliable and is not a good measure of the number of homeless people in a city.

NEOCH is working on our 2010 State of Homelessness report. We use the HMIS information in the report, but only to document the demographics of people within the shelters. It is only good information to say how many African Americans or veterans are using the shelters. It is good information for where people go after they leave a shelter, but we would never use this information as a measurement of the total number of homeless people in a community.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Census Update 2010

Ben Holbert of the US Census gives an award to Luke Drotar VISTA for NEOCH for his work in making sure that homeless people were counted in 2010. Then some guy in a Hawaiian shirt crashed the photo shoot.

Done for Another 10 Years
NEOCH and especially Luke Drotar did a ton of work on making sure that the US Census did not miss homeless people during the count. We are pretty sure that every shelter in Cleveland was counted, but most of those who were outside or those who only surface at a meal program were largely missed. We hope that the Census releases the shelter count as they had done in the 2000 Census. NEOCH staff have prepared a list of recommendations for the 2020 Census if we still have not got it together as a country and solved homelessness.

1. We need one staff person from the Census to be designated as liaison to NEOCH and the County Office of Homeless Services that will cover the whole county. This time there were three different offices that covered different service areas, and each had one supervisor.

2. We need more field staff counting, and fewer staff advertising the Census. Also, there were not enough administrators coordinating or directing the field staff that we could communicate with in the office. Those directing the field staff were also out in the field and we had a hard time getting in touch with Census staff.

3. We need to have Census clearly define to us the definition of shelter that they intend to count as part of the homeless count. Where do the mental health and treatment programs fit into the count?

4. We need the privacy of the outdoor sites communicated to workers early in the process and this should be a United States policy and not just a regional policy.

5. One month before the count, outreach workers and homeless individuals should be hired and sworn in as Census employees to guide them to the outdoor locations on the day they count those resistant to shelter.

6. We need some guidelines for how they eliminate duplication with regard to the meal count since as many as 50-60% of the population are counted in other locations.

7. All the numbers should be released to the City and County after the count to compare to our February HUD count and to use for planning.

Brian

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Census Count in Cleveland

Counting Homeless People as Part of the Census

It is an overwhelming task to try to enumerate the population, and it is especially daunting to count the transient populations. NEOCH did a ton of work over the last month to get as many homeless people as possible counted. We met with Census officials on a regular basis, and distributed Census gear to every homeless person who we met. The Census was at all three Stand Downs, and we gave out thousands of fliers.

Overall, I think that they got everyone at the shelters, but the other counts are unlikely to yield any good numbers. The Census officials counted shelters on Monday then soup kitchens on Tuesday and then the outdoor sites on Wednesday. The Census made the last minute decision to categorize transitional shelters as group quarters instead of shelters and so were planning not to count any of those facilities this week. We appealed this to the regional office to ask that they reconsider this decision, since transitional shelters are shelters and were counted in the 2000 Census. By skipping the transitional shelters, we would have a significant under count. They changed their minds about noon on Monday, but officials were not able to get to the transitional shelters until Tuesday or even some on Wednesday. NEOCH called every single shelter three times to make sure that a Census worker had visited their site. We found that four facilities were skipped, and we informed the census employees.

There seemed to be a lack of staff assigned to the homeless count and certainly a lack of clerical staff preparing for the count. It seems that were a lot of people advertising the importance of the Census, but not as many doing the actual count. We did not hear back from anyone else who said that they were missed, so we believe that every shelter was counted. We do not have much information on the second day of the count, when they were doing hot meals and mobile canteens, except that five or six of the homeless drop in/meal programs have Census staff on site for 15 to 20 hours a week to answer questions and encourage people to complete the application.

The last day was very bad and highly questionable as to accuracy. We gave the Census staff a list of all the outdoor sites that we were aware of locally. But it is nearly impossible to find these individuals in one 24 hour period. Basically, the outdoor count was a waste of time. Census staff really wanted to do the count at night, which every one of the professional staff said was a bad idea. We suggested early morning (6 a.m. to 9 a.m. and 5 to 8:30 p.m.), but they could not be convinced and went later into the night on Tuesday night. No matter if they have an army of counters, it is just impossible to count homeless people who live outside in 24 hours. So, they drove by a bunch of sites that we had given them, and tried as hard as they could in the dark to count, but this was not a good use of resources or time.

In 2000, only the shelter numbers were released and I am pretty sure that we did a good job in Cleveland with that count. It was a great deal of work trying to get the Census count correct, and most cities don't have an advocacy homeless Coalition to coordinate these activities.

Brian

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

New Study on Family Homelessness

Picture by Cynthia Miller graduate of the NEOCH Photo Project.

Mandel Releases Study on Family Homelessness

It was a rough week with prevention, CAHA, the Grapevine, and Congress activities right after the holiday. A bunch of things happened this week that you should be aware.

Case Western Reserve University Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences released a report on Family Homelessness in Cuyahoga County, which provides a nice companion to our State of Homeless Report for 2008. Much of the data is not information that we had the ability to collect including the number of families doubled up. Mandel uses the deeply flawed Homeless Management Information data which only counted 1,211 families using the shelters over 3 years. The study also references the complete count mandated by the federal government every year which is absolutely useless information with the appropriate caution. The problem with the HMIS data is that many of our largest shelters only recently began reporting. WCPN did a short story about this report that you can hear at this location.

This report can be used to look at the demographics of families using the shelters, but not for an accurate estimate of that population. The doubled up data is from 2006, so that was not at the height of the foreclosure crisis, but it is a good snapshot. Some good numbers to use for planning purposes include:

• Average family size is three people.
• More than three quarters (85%) of the families using the shelters were Black/African American. (Higher than our numbers for other populations).
  
• The average length of stay was 51 days with a median of 21 days.
  
• 75% of the families had only used the shelter once in the three years.
  
• The two most often mentioned reasons for homelessness were unemployment and inability to pay the rent/mortgage.
  
• Almost half of the families stayed less than one month, and 80% stayed less than 3 months.
  
• 15% of the poor children in Cuyahoga County were doubled up.
• 56% live in an apartment doubled up while the other 44% live in a house.
• More than 75% lived doubled up in the City of Cleveland.

Some of the suspect data include the number of male headed households, which is based on the rules of the shelters locally not the need. There was really only one facility that reports numbers that even allows a male headed household to stay in the shelter. Since there are no shelters outside Cleveland it is difficult to measure the homeless problem in the suburbs especially East Cleveland. There were less than 15% of the population reporting being a victim of domestic violence, but that has to do with our local definition of a victim. Those who flee a home and try to avoid shelter for a year staying with family and friends would not be listed as a victim of domestic violence when they eventually showed up at the shelter.

The white paper looks at some other cities which for the most part are good models except in Columbus Ohio. I do not understand why Columbus is used as a good model since they do not have a plan for how to serve families, and the problem is growing in Ohio's capital. The reports references the bogus 40% drop in homelessness in Columbus, which was actually a clever trick to redefine homelessness and not actually house homeless families. They do a good job marketing themselves, but in my opinion they are far behind in providing help to homeless people. The white paper also references suspect researchers like Dennis Culhane who forced HUD to focus time and money on long term single adults to the detriment of families who found themselves homeless. I would put his work in the same genre as Malcolm Gladwell as science for the masses or science that sounds good, but does not work in practice. Every time I see Culhane cited as a reference it casts doubt on that section of the document. My last criticism is that the document almost exclusively references the National Alliance to End Homelessness, which is only one national perspective. There are many other groups in DC who have a much different impression of the problems associated with homelessness and the researchers never look at that information. For example, the constant arrests made in some cities only prolong homelessness for many people including the heads of households. The rules that shelters have adopted often break down families, but those problems and others are not mentioned.

Back to the good parts of the report which include the relationship with foreclosures. There was good information about what happens to people who leave shelter. The transitional shelters do not come out looking very good in this report. More than half leave only because they have completed the program with 23% leaving because they violated program rules. So, this means that very few were leaving to go into independent housing. This is the reason that HUD and local leaders are moving away from transitional shelters. I like that they make recommendations at the end of the document except that I do not agree with all of them. Their first recommendation is to open up the counting system. The problem is that the shelters have wide disparities in respecting people's privacy. We cannot track down where data is leaking if the system is opened, and who do we hold responsible if personal data is released? I agree with the other recommendations especially looking at the costs of homelessness (Don't use Culhane as an example!!!). The conclusions and some of the other suggestions are very helpful, and I hope that community leaders actually read them. Keeping Families Housed and ending homelessness is the most important conclusion in the document and are critical points that we all need to keep our eye on this big picture every day.

Brian
Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

State of Cleveland Homelessness 2008

Statistics About Homelessness Published

The Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless published its second annual State of Homelessness for Cuyahoga County, Ohio 2008. In this report, we survey local homeless service providers and the public entities and collects the numbers from last year. We try to use 2008 figures or at least the most recent Statistics available. Thanks to the County Office of Homeless Services, the Salvation Army, 2100 Lakeside Shelter, CTO, CHN, and Mediation Center. We have to thank CEOCG, First Call for Help, and the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. There are so many who submitted information including EDEN, Enterprise Foundation, and Cleveland Department of Building and Housing. It is a lot larger than the 2007 edition. The report details trends, positive steps, and the final section are recommended solutions. It is available on our website www.neoch.org under Resources and statistics.

Here are a few highlights (or lowlights) from the report:

• Estimated number of homeless people in 2007: 20,087.
• Cuyahoga County residents living in poverty in 2007: 200,873 people or 15.5% of the population—a 1% increase.
• Cleveland Housing Court evictions 2007: 11,416 (no data for 2008 yet)
• Over a half million searches were conducted on the affordable housing website a12% increase.
• Foreclosures filed in Cuyahoga County in 2007: 14,041
• 21% increase in overall calls to 211, and a 22% in calls regarding foreclosure
• 26% increase in calls to 211 regarding shelter between 2008 and 2007.
• 3,788 people received help with identification in a one year period before funds ran out last year.
• The need for affordable housing: 40,000 households.
• 69% of the sheltered homeless population are African American.
• The largest men’s shelter averaged 419 people sleeping inside every night.
• 23% of the residents of Lakeside came from the suburbs or outside of Cuyahoga County.
• To afford a one bedroom apartment at the market level, a person must make $1,806 per month or $11.28 per hour.
• Homeless school age children in Cleveland remained steady in 2008 after a 40% increase in 2007.
• 57% of the women who leave shelter have no income upon exit.
• The largest family shelter saw a 50% increase in families in need of help because of the foreclosure crisis.
• The average rent burden for callers to CTO is now 73% of a families income goes toward paying the rent.
• 23% of the homeless population are veterans.
• At least 10,000 housing units sit vacant just in the City of Cleveland.
• 20% of the homeless population reported that they had never visited a dentist.

Please check it out, and give us some feedback.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.

Akron Paper Reports Bogus Homeless Numbers

Counting Jelly Beans While They are in Motion

The Akron Beacon Journal reported today that homelessness had dropped in Summit County. The article itself has contradictory information with COHHIO having different numbers. This all does not make any sense when compared to the US Census numbers. In 2006, a little over 12% of the total population in Summit County were living in poverty. In 2007, the Census shows over 14% of the population living in poverty with about 10,000 more poor people than in 2006. So, if poverty increased, how could homelessness decrease? How does the most extreme expression of poverty decrease when poverty increased? The figures from the National Alliance to End Homelessness are incorrect. The numbers cited in the ABJ article are based on a flawed system for counting homeless people, and should not be part of the discussion.

We have talked about this before, but once again this research is based on the annual count required by HUD every year. This is where a bunch of volunteers go out and try to count people where they are sleeping on one morning. This is similar to counting jellybeans while they are in motion. People move around all day. Homeless people go to work at 4 a.m., and others are returning from third shift around the same time. It is hard to tell one homeless person who is sleeping from the guy walking down the street with a large bag. Every city has a different method for attempting this impossible task including giving out rewards for the simple fact of being counted. There is variation from year to year on how the count is done, the area covered, and the diligence of the volunteers. It is rediculous to use these numbers for anything. It is a waste of time, and NEOCH never participates. There will be this big report put together. A bunch of researchers will put their name on these meaningless words and will get paid to produce future door stops.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.

Census Trouble?

Is Anyone Else Worried about the 2010 Census?

The New York Times had an editorial this weekend about the problems with the 2010 Census. I have been thinking about this for the last few months. What is happening with the next Census? The New York Times seems to say that there is some conspiracy here. I have no idea, but I do know that in 1998 we were meeting with the Census staff every month. We already had a detailed plan for counting homeless people by April 1998. The City was hosting meetings with all the social service providers in the City at that time. They were trying to build confidence, and map a strategy for counting everyone in shelter. It is almost the end of 2008, and we have not had one meeting yet with the Census. I know that they have hired some staff, but I have seen no plans yet. I am worried. This could be very bad for Cleveland. If we do not count all the poor people in Cleveland, we could face a 300,000 person city or a 150,000 drop in the population.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.

Another Comment on Counting Homeless People

New York City Debates Counting Homeless People

On this cold snowy day, I made it to work. I made the mistake of taking Mayfield Road hill on Monday night home. Big Mistake!! It took one hour and twenty minutes to get from CSU to Cleveland Hts at 8 p.m.. Then this morning I took Cedar Hill, which actually did not have one drop of snow. It was the best plowed street in the City. I was amazed. Anyway...I made it. Someone called the office and asked why the media was not talking about homeless people on this snowy day. The simple answer is that I do not control the media, but I can tell you what goes on during these cold days for homeless people.

First, we are one of the only cities left in the United States that will accept anyone who comes to the door. We have two shelters that do not turn anyone away. Then in extreme weather conditions the shelters are supposed to not close. Normally, shelters ask their clients to leave during the day (to look for non-existent jobs or find housing that they cannot afford). Reminds me of the ancient Greek myth where Prometheus has his liver eaten everyday, but as an immortal it grows back and he starts all over again the next day. But I digress.

Anyway, the shelters keep people inside on extreme weather days. Also, during any natural disaster homeless people blend better into the mainstream. Everyone is struggling on days like today. Everyday is a struggle for homeless people, so they actually fair better on these days. The City will open the Community Centers and homeless people will use those as respite from the cold if they choose not to use the shelters. I have heard of some cities who try to exclude homeless people from disaster relief centers, but that does not happen in Cleveland. It can get overwhelming for the shelters that take anyone who comes to their door, and so there is quite a bit of communication between the shelters to exchange homeless people with a goal of keeping everyone safe and warm.

On another note... We have written about the futility of counting homeless people. One of the papers in New York City did a feature on this issue, and I thought one of the comments submitted by Picture the Homeless was interesting.

"Dear PTH Friends, Members, and Allies,

Ever since the NYC Department of Homeless Services first started its count of street homeless people, Picture the Homeless members have voiced significant concerns about *why* the city does the count, and how it plays into the stigmatization of the homeless and the focus on individuals and their "issues" instead of the systemic problems that create homelessness. This week's edition of City Limits contains a terrific response to the HOPE 2007 count from PTH elder statesman Jean Rice, incorporating the perspectives of several Picture the Homeless folks.

The text can be read here: (This is one link with no break)

http://www.citylimits.org/content/articles/
viewarticle.cfm?article_id=3267

A homeless "count" relies upon people "looking homeless" so they can be visually identified. Many people who are homeless go to great lengths to NOT appear homeless (whatever that is). Also, there is a fluidity to street homelessness that cannot be captured in one night, because during that one night of the count many people who are street homeless might be working, locked up (for BEING street homeless), or temporarily staying with friends and family. As a corollary, while the
average daily shelter population in 2005 [in New York City] was 33,687, in that same year 97,039 unique individuals accessed shelter. If the Administration put the same energy into counting abandoned buildings or irresponsible landlords citywide, and then implementing comprehensive policy solutions, they might not need to use law enforcement to make the street homeless population go down."--Picture the Homeless, New York City.

I could not say it any better. For comparison, the count in Cleveland found 2,000 people which is actually less then the number of shelter beds. Most experts believe that double that number is closer to reality on most days. The City estimates that there are 10,000 abandoned/vacant structures in Cleveland.

Brian
Posts by Northeast Ohio Coalition for the Homeless staff and Board.