The Dangers of Bad Statistics

County Paints a Distorted Picture of Homelessness

The County Office of Homeless Services has been circulating a three page summary of homelessness in Cuyahoga County. They have some nice photos of cute kids and faces of the broad spectrum of homeless people. The problem is the data contained in the document is extremely distorted and absolutely false. There is no qualifications about the data or even a citation for the source of the data.

The big issue is on the front page when it gives the total amount dollars raised by the office in public funding for homelessness of $31 million. Then right underneath that they list under "Who are the Homeless?" Setting aside the identification of a diverse group of people with the article "the homeless" problem, but then underneath they identify "6,066 persons were served by Cuyahoga County Homeless Service System in 2009." This is a smaller number then were identified as being homeless and served by the county in 1995 when I started at NEOCH (10,000 people). These numbers are based on the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) numbers, but that system is so flawed that it paints a distorted picture of homelessness. HMIS is the computer system that every shelter enters data for every single homeless person entering their facility. I just do not understand why they would release this information without any context, and without an explanation.

STATISTICS BREAKDOWN: Total dollars raised in Cuyahoga County: nearly $31 million in public funds.
Total homeless served in Cuyahoga County: 6,066 were served. FAIL!!

These documents were given to the new County Council and the new County Executive without any explanation or any qualifier. For the average person who has no familiarity with homelessness, they would read this document or glance at it and say, "Wow, we spend a lot of money on a small number of people." By dividing the number of people into the total raised would be $5,110 per person. So, to the average person or the person sleeping in the shelter they are saying if you just closed down all the shelters and services, you could eliminate homelessness by giving everyone a housing voucher for $5,000 per person for the year. This means the 900 children identified as homeless by Cuyahoga County each could be receiving $5,000 from the system. A family of three, Mom and two kids, would be able to get a voucher worth $15,000 a year. Every homeless person measured in Cuyahoga County should be able to find a place to rent for $426 per month for a single bedroom or $852 for a two bedroom apartment by just dividing the $31 million up as housing vouchers. This could thus end homelessness for the 6,000 homeless people measured in Cleveland/Cuyahoga County for the year.

I, as a policy wonk, understand that the $31 million also involves shelter plus care housing vouchers, and the building and upkeep of the shelters. I know that the numbers that they are using are so low that they are useless for the community. I know that there are about five people waiting for every shelter bed in Cleveland, but for many reasons they have decided not to use the shelters. I know that the OHS count for one day is 2,236 people in January 26, 2009 coordinated by the Office of Homeless Services, and we know that the majority of the population is using the shelters for less than 30 days. So, it does not make sense that on one day there is 2,236 people, but over a year there are only 3 times that number. We know that those numbers do not include anyone sleeping in abandoned buildings and it does not include those sleeping on the streets. I understand that the HMIS data collection system is so flawed that it paints a distorted picture of homelessness. I know that there are many people who are served by the various agencies and never get entered in HMIS so they never get counted. I know that the definition of homelessness used by Cuyahoga County leaves aside many people who sleep on couches or stay in motels, but the general public does not know these things. When they see this document they see huge dollars for a few people. It is reckless to present these statistics in this manner.

Our fear is that when the public sees these figures they will think, "Well, that is an area that could see cuts." The newly elected County Council may say, "Are we spending our money efficiently?" or "How have we not ended homelessness with $31 million annually and only 6,000 documented homeless people per year?" Other communities in Ohio and around the country are documenting huge numbers compared to Cleveland. In fact, the District of Columbia on one day in March 2009 measured 5,983 homeless people , and that is a city of around 591,000 total population (Half the population of Cuyahoga County). So, DC reports almost the same number of people for one day as Cuyahoga County reports for the entire year. At the same time, Cleveland is listed as second poorest city in the United States with Washington DC is the 67th poorest city according to the Census. It is impossible to think that with 35% of our total population within the city living below poverty that only 6,000 of those households will fall into homelessness in one year, while Washington DC has only 18.4% of their population living below the poverty level according to the US Census and 6,000 people fall into homelessness in one day.

The damage that this kind of information could do is dramatic. It could lead to budget cuts, service reductions, and increased demand for scarce services. This is harmful to the community of social service providers and to homeless people.

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

Looting vs. Survival?

Photo by Cheryl Jones of the Grapevine photo project

In Haiti, is this Really Looting?

I really need some clarity on the definition of looting from the media. I do not understand how this fits in Haiti in which for the last week government has for all purposes collapsed. If there is no way to get supplies in and people are starving and need water, how is it looting if they go in and "take" those items from stores. I asked friends at the National Coalition for the Homeless to define looting and they seemed to believe that it was the theft of extraneous items that have nothing to do with the emergency (plasma tvs, furniture, house decorations, etc.). So, the theft of items for survival should not be considered looting. I have also heard that theft associated with violence would be considered looting. But this blanket statement about looting seems misguided in the case of Haiti. A guy stealing materials for clothing or night time covers or to make a tent for shelter as pictured in the Washington Post does not seem to be looting to me.

I heard some discussion about this on NPR yesterday, but have not seen much discussion in print about looting with a definition. The report today was that 1.5 million people are now homelessness in Haiti or half of the Port-au-Prince.

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

Today's Civil Rights

MLK Day Reflection

Today is the day we mark the day we remember Martin Luther King Jr., and I was thinking about the issues that King would be pursuing if he were alive or if one person had picked up his legacy. We are gathering our stats for the State of Homelessness report 2010, and once again we find that around 75% of the homeless population in Cleveland is African American. I have to believe that if King were still alive or if one individual had taken up the struggle, they would have homelessness on the top of the Civil Right's agenda. Homelessness disproportionately affects African Americans in almost every city in America. I have to believe that the other issue on the top of the agenda would be the criminal justice system. The disproportionate number of African Americans who are involved in the judicial system is a toxic subject for politicians including President Obama. We need a national movement leader to continue to move a Civil Rights agenda forward that will force these issues onto the national stage.

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

The Death of Cleveland Transit Authority?

2010 Proposed Cuts Will Result in Death of RTA

When I read the Plain Dealer story on the proposed cuts to the Regional Transit Authority, I had the same reaction as Rob Pitingolo who posted on Brewed Fresh Daily. If these go forward, this will be the death of the Transit Authority. It is already difficult to get around using RTA and the bus pass cost is out of control. It is the single biggest complaint of homeless people that there is no way to get to work or doctor appointments while living in a shelter, because of the expense of riding RTA. We already endured huge increases in the fares and the elimination of the Circulators as well as a reductions last year. The announced 2010 cuts are extreme and in my opinion the agency will not recover from these cuts. I think that they have cut the transit program to the bone and any additional cuts will make it impossible for people to rely on the transit authority to get to work. We will view the RTA as a way to get to the airport or a special event, but not a reliable partner to get to work everyday. I can't take a bus to a rapid stop and then transfer to the rapid and then take the healthline to work. It will double the bus ride to work, and I am not willing to give an extra hour and a half a day for work. This is a horrible decision. If they want to save RTA, they need to keep or reduce the daily fare, keep the routes the same, and FIND A DIFFERENT REVENUE SOURCE!!! They need to demand additional state dollars or additional hotel/ motel tax or a new hospitality tax on restaurants to maintain existing service. Please don't kill the RTA.

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

NCH Statement on McKinney Vento

National Coalition for the Homeless Voices Concern Over Homeless Legislation

National Coalition for the Homeless

Statement on Enactment of the

Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act

(S. 896/P.L. 111-022, Enacted May 20, 2009)

The National Coalition for the Homeless (NCH) issued the following statement upon enactment of the Homeless Emergency Assistance and Rapid Transition to Housing Act (HEARTH Act). The legislation, which reauthorizes the McKinney-Vento homeless assistance programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, was included within the larger Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 (S. 896, P.L. 111-022). President Obama signed the legislation on May 20, 2009.

The National Coalition for the Homeless commends Congress for taking action to reauthorize the McKinney-Vento homeless assistance programs of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. This action represents the first formal reauthorization of HUD’s homeless assistance programs since 1992 – a reauthorization long overdue. Moreover, the wide margin of support for the addition of the HEARTH Act to the Helping Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 is indicative of the bipartisan interest among Members of Congress in responding to homelessness. NCH congratulates U.S. Senators Jack Reed (D-RI) and Christopher “Kit” Bond (R-MO), former Senator Wayne Allard (R-CO), U.S. Representatives Gwen Moore (D-WI), Judy Biggert (R-IL), and Geoff Davis (R-KY), the late U.S. Representative Julia Carson (D-IN) and other Members of Congress who played leadership roles in assuring reauthorization of HUD homeless assistance programs.

From NCH’s perspective, the enacted version of the HEARTH Act is a mix of favorable and disappointing provisions. Among the provisions of the HEARTH Amendment that enjoy NCH support:

• Adds additional homelessness prevention activities and populations at risk of homelessness into the current Emergency Shelter Grants program, which is renamed Emergency Solutions Grants.
• Allows Congress to finance the renewal costs of permanent housing projects initiated with HUD McKinney-Vento funds from the Housing Choice Voucher account.
• Increases the administrative expense limit for project sponsors.
• Prohibits shelter and housing projects receiving HUD McKinney-Vento funds from requiring a family to separate any child or youth member of the family from the whole unit as a condition for the family’s admission into the shelter or housing.
• Improves collaboration between Continuum of Care jurisdictions and HUD-funded homeless assistance providers and local educational agencies with regard to homeless child and youth access to elementary and secondary education.
• Requires the Government Accountability Office to conduct a study on rural homeless assistance, including offering recommendations on the appropriate federal agency or agencies to administer a rural homeless assistance program.

In other areas, the legislation falls short of NCH’s aspirations. Among them:

· The authorization level for HUD McKinney-Vento programs is set at $2.2 billion in FY 2010, far below the minimum $3 billion level of annual funding need identified by NCH and other homeless advocacy organizations, particularly as homelessness prevention activities are introduced as eligible activities into HUD McKinney-Vento programs.

· The bill relegates homeless people and service providers to consultative roles in the Continuum of Care application process, rather than assuring them decision-making roles.

· The new definition of homeless individual for HUD programs (and by extension other federal, state and local programs that use the HUD definition of homelessness) continues to exclude several subpopulations recognized in other federal law to be homeless, including homeless families living in shared housing for more than two week duration and single adults and childless couples living in shared housing due to loss of housing and economic hardship. Furthermore, the new definition is overly complex and likely to prove unwieldy for people to understand whether or not they are eligible for homeless assistance, or why they may be eligible for some homeless programs, but not others.

· The bill permits jurisdictions with low rates of homelessness to use Continuum of Care funds for people who are not homeless under the HUD definition but are homeless under other federal definitions, but limits this flexibility for jurisdictions with higher rates of homelessness, thus creating inequity in access to HUD-funded homeless assistance services across jurisdictions.

· The legislation limits flexibility of jurisdictions receiving Continuum of Care funds to spend resources on the full range of eligible activities by establishing priorities, incentives, and bonuses for some activities over others.

· The legislation limits flexibility of jurisdictions receiving Emergency Solutions Grant (formerly Emergency Shelter Grant) funds to spend the full amount of ESG resources on emergency shelter, outreach, and essential services.

· The bill codifies into law the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) without assuring privacy protections for homeless people or controlling use of HMIS data for decision-making.

· The bill misses the opportunity to elevate the Executive Director of the Interagency Council on Homelessness to a Senate-confirmed position, or to have the ICH Director report directly to the White House rather than to an annual rotation of Cabinet secretaries.

· The bill’s definition of “rural area” for purposes of a new rural homeless assistance set-aside program permits metropolitan cities within some western states to remove themselves from the main Continuum of Care program and instead secure funds through the rural account.

NCH regrets that the above-mentioned weaknesses in the legislation were not adequately addressed in the HEARTH Act prior to passage. However, we will work with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and other stakeholders to assure implementation of the HEARTH Act in a manner as inclusive and protective as possible as the law affords for people experiencing homelessness and for homeless assistance service providers. The brief two-year authorization period for HUD McKinney-Vento programs provides a quick opportunity to ask Congress to redress weaknesses with the new law.

NCH thanks the many individuals and organizations who over this past decade educated us about the challenges in addressing homelessness in their lives and in their communities, who helped us shape our policy recommendations for HUD homeless assistance reauthorization, and who responded to our repeated calls for action.

We urge individuals and organizations who encounter barriers to accessing HUD homeless assistance programs as a result of the new law to report those concerns to their Members of Congress. Please also report them to NCH so that we may attempt to rectify challenges through HUD policy, regulation, or Congressional action.

NEOCH, the Cleveland Homeless Coalition, agrees with these comments along with our previous posts. We had such high hopes for this legislation, but we will have to continue to work on these issues.

Brian

Posts reflect the opinion of those who sign the entry.

Broken Public Policy: Sex Offenders

Where Do Sexually Based Offenders Live?

There was a story on NPR about sexually based offenders being dropped off to live under a Miami overpass last week. The worst part of this story was the scale of the homeless village with 67 offenders gathered in the same place, and the Sheriff's office condemning one single woman to live among this chaos. How is that humane, legal or ethical to place one woman among the 67 men who have issues with violence and a demonstrated inability to control themselves? This medieval approach to public policy is disgusting.

In Ohio, we do not have the 2,500 foot rule that they have in Miami. An offender is not allowed to live within 2,500 feet of where children gather in Miami. We do have a 1,000 foot rule in Ohio a notification of neighbors, and now registration of where an offender works. There are three tiers of notification including a life time registration in Ohio. Many of these individuals become homeless, because they are driven from their homes or are told that they may not return to their families. There are varying degrees of problems throughout the state with regard to public policy around sexually based offenders.

• In Cleveland, we have only one facility that allows homeless sexually based offenders to live. This means that there are well over one hundred offenders registered in the same place. This would not be a problem if the state provided trained case workers to monitor and provide counseling to these individuals. This does not happen, and so while over 100 offenders list one shelter as their residence, many do not actually live at this shelter. Where are they? No one really knows.
  
• In Cincinnati, the shelters are all too close to schools or day care centers. So, most of the men sleep outside with no monitoring and no hope of going inside. There was a lawsuit by one sexually based offender who had pneumonia and was released by the hospital without a place to live. He argued that this public policy was a death sentence. He struck a deal with the prosecutor to live at the drop in center while he recovered, but then would be back on the streets.
  
• In Dayton, there are no shelters for sexually based offenders.
  
• In Columbus, there are no shelters for sexually based offenders because they have all signed a "good neighbor policy." This should be called the "don't ask, don't tell, and don't even think about where these guys are living policy." The good neighbor policy says that every shelter will screen for offenders and refuse entry to all of them. So where do they live? Mostly they are unsupervised outside in camps near the riverbank.

This is how we are trying to protect our children in America? Placing offenders outside to make them angry and more likely to revert to their horrible ways is not a sustainable policy. Every year there are more and more offenders on the street, and soon there will be an army of permanently homeless people in our country. Our politicians, in an effort to win short term political gain, have actually made all of us less safe. The heart of the matter is that the majority of sexually based offenders are not strangers preying on children or women, but are relatives or friends who build a trusting relationship and then attack. We can set up all the notification in the world, but we are not building a safer society? Wouldn't monitoring and counseling make the community safer instead placing offenders in tents near the riverbeds of our major cities? Have these laws worked? Are these guys who wander our streets at night staying out of trouble? Someone needs to step forward and have some courage to buck the current law and order hard line, and bring public safety into this debate. Yes, we may have to spend money on these men who have committed the worst crimes in our society, but it is better than the alternative.

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

Grading the Administration 11

Weekly Grades for the Obama Administration on Poverty: D

This was a rough week to give a score, because nearly all the work of the administration involved international and foreign policy. I had to dig deep to find anything that had to do with poverty coming out of the executive branch this week. I would give an Incomplete for lack of any work done, but the administration is bigger then just the President. So, I looked at what the various departments are doing and found a few things that will help, but it is scarce. This week we have to give the Administration a D for their work on poverty.

The G-20 did approve a large allocation to fight poverty in developing countries. How can we get Detroit and Cleveland to qualify as a developing nation? The department of Health and Human Services is sending out billions to improve Head Start. This is no doubt a program that helps lower income children with proven success. They are also announcing the increase in rural health clinics as part of the stimulus bill. Again, a needed expansion in a country that has developed a formula for converting a person's health to a dollar figure. There will be a series of health care reform forums and the administration is looking for input. Finally, the Department of Education is starting to send some of the capital dollars out to improve schools throughout the United States. That is all that I could find for this last week. Obama was traveling most of the week, and said very little about poverty back home.

Brian

Grading the Administration 8

Weekly Grades for the Obama Administration on Poverty: C
50 Day Average: C

Every week since January we have posted grades for the Administration on their attempts to fight poverty. This week we are giving them a solid C, which also is the grade that the administration has earned for their first 50 days. By assigning a numeric number to their grades for the first eight weeks, the Obama Administration has reached a 77% or a solid C in fighting poverty.

What has happened over the last week? There was a front page Washington Post article on the priorities of the new Donovan HUD administration on the construction of affordable rental housing. This is a huge change from the almost rabid obsession with pushing people into home ownership during the last eight years. The administration gets docked for convening the Middle Class task force before looking at poverty. The health care reform task force met again on Thursday in Michigan, and that is certainly a good thing. There was an education forum on Monday to lay out the plans for improving America's education system. The current education system certainly contributes to homelessness. The HUD Secretary was in New Orleans to accept the City's plan to rebuild. There did not seem to be any new money announced, and the levy system is still a failure. I looked at the poverty agenda on Whitehouse.gov, and it seems to me that only one broad goal has even had any attention given to it so far. Finally, there was a status update delivered on the state of ethics reform within the government. I like these periodic status updates, and hope that they continue. It is easy to put out a press release, but have to report back to the country on how things are going is important.

So, a few good things happened and there was some distractions from addressing poverty. Two months into the new administration, they are pulling down a solid "C" on the academic scale in addressing poverty. Since the last president campaigned on his being a solid C student at Yale (I suspect a gentleman's C because of his Dad), I would imagine that this administration is shooting for a higher grade. We will continue to look for signs that they are serious about reducing poverty and homelessness.

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

Continuum of Care Dollars Released

Behind the Headlines

Homeless people do read the paper. They visit the library and read the national news online as well as perusing the local Plain Dealer regularly. This is the time of year when the federal government releases its annual "Continuum of Care" funding, and I get a lot of questions from homeless people about all this money given to Cleveland for homelessness. Perhaps you saw the headline over the last day, "Obama Administration releases [some many millions or billions] to deal with homelessness." This dates back to the Clinton administration when they combined all the homeless money given to states and localities into one release of dollars to maximize news coverage. Clinton did it right by releasing the money right around a big, tug-on-the-heart-strings-holiday of either Christmas or Thanksgiving. It was difficult for the Bush administration to manage the release of the HUD grant around a good holiday, because the federal budget was not regularly passed by the October 1 deadline. Bush was often relegated to second tier-tug-at-your-heart holidays like MLK Day or President's Day for his homeless press release. Obama released the funds yesterday with a $1.6 billion headline provided to local and state jurisdictions.

We certainly appreciate the help with Cleveland/Cuyahoga County getting all that they asked for in $22 million, but what does that mean? In almost the entire United States, the money just renews existing programs. So, the headline should be "Obama renews shelter/housing grants so no one will be forced to close." It is not a huge new pool of money even though the headline makes it sound like that. In Cleveland, we had room for a few new housing vouchers and one new project, but otherwise all the money went to renew the budgets of the existing shelters/housing vouchers. The shelters do not get a cost of living increase or money to serve new populations (like foreclosure victims). They get the same amount of money that they asked for when they were originally funded. While utility prices, food prices, health benefits, and salaries have all gone up over the years, the shelters must figure out how to make up the shortfall because the federal government does not pay for any cost of living increases.

So, a big thank you has to go out to Ruth Gillett from the County Office of Homeless Services locally who fills out all the paperwork and checks all the boxes to make sure that we get our fair share. It is a huge job that takes months, and was complicated this year because everything had to be submitted electronically. As you may be aware, the federal government takes many years to figure out how to move away from paper, so it was a rough ride this year. She has to gather all this information from every facility and gather information about their clients and put it in one application that printed out is about 3 foot tall stack of paper. She has always secured the money set aside for Cleveland/Cuyahoga County with only a few minor problems. Other cities (Akron, Ohio, Columbus, Canton and Dayton) have all had major problems in the last five years costing their homeless populations millions of dollars.

One unfortunate note for those who embrace the rivalry with our downstate competitors in best city in Ohio starting with the letter "C". Both Columbus and Cincinnati as well as Dayton and the Ohio small cities collaboration received one of the 23 demonstration grants released yesterday by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is amazing that out of 23 grants nationwide Ohio scored 4 of them. HUD funded groups to set up pilot programs to rapidly re-house people in order to avoid homelessness. I tried to find what the other cities applied for, but I could only find the Columbus plan. They are setting up some intensive case management using the Salvation Army combined with rental assistance money. The question is why didn't the Cleveland project make it? Why couldn't we compete with Dayton or Cincy for the one million dollar "rapid-rehousing" demonstration programs?

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

Grading the Administration 4

Weekly Poverty Grades for the Obama Administration: C+

A slight improvement over last week with regard to the struggle to reduce poverty. For the first month of the Obama administration has reached a solid C average on fighting poverty. The stimulus bill passed and will be signed in the next two days. We already detailed all the items within the bill that would help homeless people here. Plus, there was that help of one homeless woman in Ft. Myers Florida who asked a question at his Tuesday press conference. Now that the Economic Stimulus bill is done, the administration can now turn its attention to the housing crisis, the health care system reform, and the free fall in the job market. We did not get everything we wanted with the economic stimulus, but all that money has to do something to help. There is still a long list of areas that need immediate action (here is the list). That list got a little longer in that they now have to fill two cabinet positions, and get the Secretary of Labor approved by the Senate. I read the White House blog and all the press releases, as well as the HUD website for the last week to see what else the government was doing. Nothing much happened except the stimulus over the last week, but there is a big week expected this week.

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

Economic Stimulus and Homelessness

Some Benefit for Homeless People

Summary of the Housing Provisions in Recovery Conference Agreement from the National Low Income Housing Coalition.
Congress Agrees to Stimulus Compromise; Votes on Friday
Some details of the House and Senate conference agreement on the economic stimulus bill were released this afternoon. Appropriations for HUD programs in the conference agreement are as follows: $4 billion for the Public Housing Capital Fund (House and Senate had both passed $5 billion in their versions). $2.25 billion for 12-month renewals of the project-based Section 8 rental assistance program, with $250 million of this going toward energy retrofitting and green housing (had been $2.5 billion in the House bill, $2.25 billion in the Senate package). $2 billion for the Neighborhood Stabilization Program to redevelop foreclosed and abandoned homes ($4.19 billion in the House, $0 in the Senate). $1.5 billion for homeless prevention through the Emergency Shelter Grant program (the same as in the House and Senate-passed versions). [This is about the size of current Continuum of Care--so this could mean a doubling of existing funds or $12-$18 million for Cuyahoga County.] $2.25 billion to fund HOME, with $2 billion of this to fill gaps in approved Low Income Housing Tax Credit projects and jump start these stalled projects ($1.5 billion was in the House bill just for HOME, without the LIHTC provision; $2.25 billion was in the Senate bill, with $2 billion for LIHTC gap fix). $1 billion for the Community Development Block Grant program (House had $1 billion; Senate had no CDBG funds). $100 million for lead paint reduction (same in both the House and Senate bills). $10 million in Native American Block Grants (had been $500 million in the House; $510 million in the Senate). Low Income Housing Tax Credits: Details of the tax provisions have not been released but it is our understanding that, in addition to the $2 billion for LIHTC gap financing mentioned above, the conference agreement will include the House's proposal to allow housing credit allocating agencies to receive up to 40% of their 2009 credits as cash and use this to fill financing gaps from approved but stalled projects. It is NLIHC's understanding that the Senate bill's acceleration provision is not in the conference agreement. Homeownership Tax Credit It is NLIHC's understanding that the Senate's $35 billion homeownership tax credit has been significantly scaled back in the conference report. It appears that the conference agreement would amend the current $7,500 first-time homebuyer tax credit to repeal the current tax credit's requirement that it be repaid to the federal government. The benefits of the current tax credit, available to people who have not owned a home during the last three years, phase out for higher income households. Other Programs The Emergency Food and Shelter Program within the Federal Emergency Management Agency will receive $100 million in the conference agreement. The Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program receives nothing (the House had funded it, the Senate did not). The Social Services Block Grant program will receive nothing (the Senate had funded it, the House did not). The Census Bureau will receive $1 billion. What is Not in The Conference Agreement: The final compromise does not include revenue for the National Housing Trust Fund, nor does it allocate funding for 400,000 new Housing Choice Vouchers. The funding for housing programs fell tremendously short of what advocates had sought.

Thanks to staff at the National Low Income Housing Coalition for keeping those in the field updated about this difficult to follow bill. If you are not a member of the NLIHC and you care about federal housing and homeless policy, we recommend taking a few minutes to sign up as a member of this critical national housing advocacy leader.

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

Updates on the Housing/Homeless Programs in the Stimulus Bill

We were incorrect about the shelter dollars not in the Senate Bill. I got the last info from the Associated Press. Here is the list from the National Low Income Housing Coalition comparing the House and Senate Bills:

• National Housing Trust Fund: House, $0/Senate, $0
• Housing Choice Vouchers: House, $0/Senate, $0
• Emergency Shelter Grant Program: House, $1.5 billion/Senate, $1.5 billion
• Public and Indian Housing Capital: House, $5.5 billion/Senate, $5.5 billion
• Project-Based Section 8 renewal funding: House, $0/Senate, $2.1 billion
• Project-Based Section 8 green retrofit: House, $2.5 billion/Senate, $118 million
• Neighborhood Stabilization Program: House, $4.19 billion including renter protection language/Senate, $0
• Low Income Housing Tax Credit gap financing: House, $0/Senate, $2 billion
• Low Income Housing Tax Credit fixes: House, 9% credit exchange/Senate, acceleration of value of 9% credits
• HOME program: House, $1.5 billion/Senate, $225 million
• Rural Housing Insurance: House, $500 million/Senate, $200 million
• Lead Hazard Reduction: House, $100 million/Senate, $100 million

There is still time to get some of these programs some funding in the compromise legislation that is being negotiated right now. As always, if you see your federal representative walking down the street ask him/her to include housing in the stimulus bill.

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

What You Talking About Willis?

Don't Call Me Homeless!!!

I am not a big fan of the word homeless, but it is the word we all understand. Dick Feagler never understood the word, but the rest of society has the image of people sleeping in shelters or on the streets when we use the word. Anyway, homeless people hate the word "homeless." We never use the term in surveys, because it is viewed with such disdain by those experiencing housing instability. Last week, we saw had bad the term "homeless" is viewed by our society. Call me anything you want, but don't call me "homeless." The Detroit News found a guy in an elevator shaft two weeks ago, and identified him as homeless. There was some controversy about putting the photo of his legs sticking out of the ice on the front page, and the point of the story was the indifference by all the other people in the building who did nothing. What was amazing is the reaction in the Associated Press story by the family when the man's identity was discovered.

"Relatives said Redding was a one-time steelworker who worked as a handyman and moved around to the homes of relatives and friends. Older brother Homer Redding said family members don't know what Johnnie Redding was doing in an abandoned building, but they rejected authorities' speculation that he was homeless.

'That's what I don't understand. They are saying he was homeless. I couldn't understand it,' older brother Homer Redding, 59, of River Rouge, told the Detroit Free Press. 'He had too many places he could live.'

Johnnie Redding might have had places that he could have crashed, but he did not have a lease and was struggling with affording rent. It is not shameful, and the less we talk about it the longer the problem will persist. We need to start discussing homelessness in a more open and honest way so that we can start talking about solutions. People need to start admitting that they have had problems with homelessness so that they can take responsibility for the issues that led to their losing their housing.

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

Grading the Administration 3

Weekly Poverty Grades for the Obama Administration: C-

Grades are slipping for the administration's struggle against poverty. We had the worst month for jobs in 34 years, and so once again the focus was on the economic stimulus. The economy is hurting everyone including those currently living in poverty so the work on a stimulus package should count toward addressing poverty. If nothing is done or we rely strictly on a tax cut strategy, poverty will get worse. The creation of the faith based and neighborhood partnership advisory is a good step because it features Rev. Jim Wallace and Rev. Otis Moss. The addition of Tammy Duckworth to the Department of Veterans Affairs is a positive addition to the administration. The third week of the administration sees another slip in the grades. I have to give the Obama administration a C- for their efforts to reduce poverty in week 3.

The new staff for the Office of Faith Based and Neighborhood Partnership, Joshua DuBois, said,

"Whether it's connecting groups that are training people to do new jobs, or figuring out the role of faith-based organizations in combating global climate change, this office creates those partnerships in a way that's responsible, constitutional, and -- bottom line -- helps those in need."

Mr. DuBois seems like a good advocate for America's cities. He was the guy who pushed the City of New York to remember Amadou Diallo by leading a 41 hour vigil in 1999 after Diallo was assainated. With the support of the amazing Jim Wallace of Sojourners and Cleveland's own Rev. Otis Moss, this office should be able to make great strides if they do not spend all their time arguing about the constitutional questions.

Ron Sims of Seattle was named Deputy Secretary of HUD to oversee all day to day operations. I have no idea if this is good, but at least these positions are being filled. The new Children's Health Insurance Program rules were signed into law expanding health care coverage. This is a positive for low income families and those children who do not have health insurance. But overall, we still have not seen much action on reducing poverty. I am getting worried that we may not see much progress because of this economic downturn. We lost the shelter money that the president proposed in the stimulus bill. We lost the money for affordable housing that the House passed, and we lost the money for our Commnity Action Agencies. The Senate added money for Public Housing, but homelessness took a hit in the legislation.

The list of activities that are still outstanding is getting longer every day:
These are the items that they need to work on to improve that grade which has slipped in one week.

• No work on Katrina recovery.
• No jobs created.
• No health insurance
• No school system was improved
• No additional assistance was provided so that young people could go to college.
• No further details or action on a rural or urban agenda.
• The HUD Continuum of Care funds for last year were not released.
  
• No further action on homelessness
• No civil rights agenda was proposed.
• Nothing on the extreme debt facing poor people.
• No halt to all the foreclosures while we stabilize housing.
  
• Still no action on all the toxic assets being held by banks.
• There is very little change with the HUD, HHS, and Department of Labor websites.
  
• Some Bush Administration hold overs are still in office, and need to be let go.
  

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

Grading the Administration 2

Weekly Poverty Grades for the Obama Administration: C

Okay, not much happened this week with regard to poverty, but the United States lost 100,000 jobs in one week. It is understandable that the entire focus of the executive and legislative branches be directed at addressing the economic downturn. The economy is hurting everyone including those currently living in poverty so the work on a stimulus package should count toward addressing poverty. If nothing is done or we rely only on one strategy poverty will get worse. More and more people will be forced out of their homes, more will need public assistance, and more people will show up requesting help with food. So, this second week, I have to give the Obama administration a C for their efforts to reduce poverty. Here is the score from last week.

I have to say that appointing the Vice President to assist the middle class is not that helpful in reducing poverty, and that has to count against the administration. These are a few highlights this week:

• Most of the work was directed at the economic recovery package, which deserves all the attention with things slipping every day.
  
• There is talk of additional dollars for shelters, school construction, and extended unemployment, which would be helpful.
• There was use of the bully pulpit to criticize the wall street bonuses that were made with taxpayer money. We can only hope we will return to the idea that business executives should not make obscene amounts of compensation. Can we go back to a 90% tax bracket for those who receive such extreme benefit packages?
  
• Lily Ledbetter equal pay law was signed. This assures that 51% of the population are allowed to sue if they find out they are being discriminated against in the workplace. Hopefully, this provides some balance in the workplace between worker and the giant corporations in this country, and will allow women to receive equal pay. This law keeps people out of poverty.
  

These are the items that they need to work on to improve that grade which has slipped in one week.

• No work on Katrina recovery.
• No jobs created.
• No health insurance
• No school system was improved
• No additional assistance was provided so that young people could go to college.
• No further details or action on a rural or urban agenda.
• No further action on homelessness
• No civil rights agenda was proposed.
• Nothing on the extreme debt facing poor people.
• Two things that I missed last week is that we still do not have action on a foreclosure moratorium. We need to call a halt to all foreclosures while we stabilize housing.
  
• Still no action on all the toxic assets being held by banks.
• There is very little change with the HUD, HHS, and Department of Labor websites. It was interesting that the White House website changed around noon on Tuesday January 20. The other cabinet officers have not put their goals or agendas on their agency websites yet.
  

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

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.

Foreclosures Up in 2008

File Under "How is This Possible?"

We are collecting our State of Homelessness 2008 report right now, and we were shocked to discover that foreclosures in Cuyahoga County are up between 2007 and 2008. All the attention directed at the crisis; all the arrests of criminal predatory lenders; and the moratoriums by various lending institutions have done little to help. How could we have an increase in foreclosures with all this government intervention? Then the icing on the cake is the huge increase in foreclosures in December. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays Cleveland! Here are a boat load of foreclosures for you to suck on. To all the representatives from the financial sector, we would like to thank you for this Christmas gift. Cleveland and Cuyahoga County can use more foreclosures. What is your return gift policy?
Here are the 2007 estimated number of homeless in the big cities in Ohio. The Census poverty figures are always one year behind.
The first number is the Census population figure for 2007.
The second number is the percentage living in poverty from the Census American Community Survey released in the fall every year.
The third number would be the actual number living in poverty.
The final number is the estimated number of homeless people in that County. This is based on percentage in poverty. The higher number living in poverty the larger percentage who face homelessness. These percentages are based on research conducted by HUD.

The entire report will be released on January 22, 2009 as part of the press conference for the Homeless Stand Down.

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

Cleveland: State of Homelessness 2007

Coalition Issues Report on the State of Homelessness in Cleveland

Last week as part of the press conference to introduce the Stand Down, NEOCH issued our State of Homelessness in Cleveland. It is available on our website as a pdf here under State of Homelessness 2007. It compiles all the statistics on foreclosures, evictions, shelter usage, money spent on homelessness to give a unsettling picture of the increase in homelessness in 2007. NEOCH staff gathered stats from the social service community as well as a few government agencies. Some of the most alarming statistics include:

• The Cleveland Public Schools saw a 32% increase in the number of kids in the last six months of 2007 compared to the same time in 2006.
• First Call for Help saw a 30% increase in calls regarding housing and a 39% increase in requests for food.
  
• 75% of the shelter population in Cleveland is African American.
• A person must make $10.93 per hour working 40 hours a week in order to afford the fair market rent in Greater Cleveland.
  
• The men's shelter averaged 129 people over their legal capacity in 2007, which forced Cuyahoga County to offer overflow shelter 365 days a year.
  
• 35% of the homeless population reported an income of over $501 per month while staying in the shelters.

We do not have the total number of homeless estimates in Cleveland until the Census releases their poverty estimate, but all indications are that it was a rough 2007 for people experiencing homelessness.

The report lists the positive trends in the community including a great deal of work done by the County to find new spaces for homeless men to live or sleep because of the anticipated loss of Aviation High School. We also applaud the County for remaining committed to guaranteed access to shelter. We have not had to hang up the sign "There is No Bed at the Inn" sign locally. Those who want a bed show up at the shelter and they will not be turned away (thus the need for overflow). There are also a couple of pages dedicated to "dangerous trends" in the community that we all need to watch. Finally, we give a laundry list of 35 things that could be done locally to reduce the homeless population. We are very proud of the report, and we hope that you will check it out.

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

The Mentally Ill are Going to Take A Hit

Virginia Tech Shooting Means Rough Road Ahead

In September 2001, I was naive and believed all the hot air that I was hearing about tolerance and not to stereotype people. For example, I believed that a bill, the Patriot Act, that had near unanimous approval was not an overreaction--then I actually read the law. I believed what President Bush said to a joint session of Congress:

"I also want to speak tonight directly to Muslims throughout the world. We respect your faith. It's practiced freely by many millions of Americans, and by millions more in countries that America counts as friends. Its teachings are good and peaceful, and those who commit evil in the name of Allah blaspheme the name of Allah. The terrorists are traitors to their own faith, trying, in effect, to hijack Islam itself. The enemy of America is not our many Muslim friends; it is not our many Arab friends. Our enemy is a radical network of terrorists, and every government that supports them."

I was a sucker, and did not realize that we would soon attack two Muslim countries, men who look Muslim would be excluded from airplanes, and the first Muslim elected to Congress would be asked on a national television show how we could trust him? So, now we are told not to jump to conclusions about immigrants or those with a mental illness after the shootings at Virginia Tech. Well, maybe I am jaded or just wiser, but I believe there will be some big changes for mentally ill people. When the United States acts in haste in response to a national tragedy, civil rights usually go out the window. From World War II and the Japanese American forced into concentration camps to the stomping on privacy and individual liberty in the name of fighting terrorism today, we often go overboard with our answer to a crisis.

Are we going to build a bunch of asylums? Are we going to confine people to extended stays in the hospital against their will? Are we going to force people to take medicine against their will? Or are we going to build forced labor camps for immigrants or those bipolar folks in our community? I know that we are not going to provide health care and housing for our citizens, and everything short of that will just make their lives miserable.

Brian

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

The Meanest Guy in the State

Cincinnati Hates Homeless People

We don't get a lot of news from that geographically misplaced city of Cincinnati (should be located below the Mason Dixon), but here is a story that ran last week about a homeless sexually based offender trying to stay warm. Cincinnati politicians get elected by promising to get rid of poor people and the debates are between two candidates who attempt to be more hateful than the other guy. Here is an example:

Offender Sues for the Right to Shelter

A 57-year-old sex offender told a judge Friday that he might freeze to death because a state law bars him from a Cincinnati homeless shelter located near a school.

Larry Winslow, who has been homeless for five years, sued in U.S. District Court to block enforcement of the law so he can seek refuge at the Drop Inn Center in Over-the-Rhine.

The law he is challenging forbids convicted sex offenders from living in homes, apartments or shelters within 1,000 feet of schools or day-care centers.

"Mr. Winslow is struggling just to survive in the cold this winter," Winslow's attorney, David Singleton, wrote in the lawsuit. "He fears that he will die in the cold weather if he cannot get shelter."

The lawsuit says Winslow recently was diagnosed with walking pneumonia.

The suit is the latest challenge to Ohio's restrictions on sex offenders and where they may live.

Several suits have been filed in Cincinnati and around the state, but so far judges have deemed the law valid.

Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters, who is named in Winslow's lawsuit, said the law is constitutional. "I feel bad for him," he said of Winslow. "I know it's cold outside, but we have to enforce the law.

"There is no constitutional right to warmth."

Last year, Deters' office notified the Drop Inn Center that the shelter no longer could allow sex offenders to live there because the building is located within 1,000 feet of a school.

Winslow's lawyers could not be reached Friday, but the lawsuit says he was convicted of sexual battery in 1994 and 1996 in cases involving adult female prostitutes.

The suit states that he spends most nights on the streets and occasionally seeks refuge at the downtown Greyhound bus station. Usually, though, he is told to leave or face arrest, the lawsuit says.

"There is no rational basis to prohibit sex offenders from sleeping, at night, at a homeless shelter that happens to be within 1,000 feet of a school," the lawsuit says. "No child protection interest is served."

The suit asks Judge Sandra Beckwith to declare the law unconstitutional and to issue an order that would allow Winslow to immediately seek shelter at the Drop Inn Center.

Joe Deters was hounded by scandal out of state office then elected by the good people of Cincinnati to be the lead advocate for interpreting laws that he had trouble following while in the State Executive Branch. He said, "There is no constitutional right to warmth," which in the civilized world would be the end of your political career, but in Cincinnati is a campaign slogan for re-election. In other words, "I feel bad for him, but we are not responsible when he dies on the streets." That is a rough city to be homeless, and certainly one of the meanest cities in the United States toward poor people.

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