Category Archives: Homelessness

County to County

Government programs, Homelessness, Portraits of Homeless

This weeks data exercise put faces to the countless numbers of people who are homeless. While researching Riverside County I found that there was 31% decrease in homelessness between 2011 and 2013. In 2011 the homeless population was 4,321 people and in 2013 the homeless population was 2,979. Of that 2,979, 1,888 people were unsheltered and 1,090 were sheltered. Within Riverside County, the city of Riverside had the most homeless people at 571.

These may just seem like numbers but each one represents a specific individual. Seeing these numbers and the methods they used to come up with these statistics really put things into perspective.  I was surprised by the numbers in Riverside County because I thought that the numbers were a  lower compared to other counties. During my research I found that San Bernardino is the poorest county in California. The fact that Riverside County and San Bernardino County are so close to each other really shows the effect that bordering cities have towards one another.

For example, Pasadena, California tends to be an extremely upscale city. With that being said, homeless people often are not present. But less than 15 minutes away in Downtown Los Angeles is the greatest population of homeless people living on skid row. Our society stereotypes people to where we think they should reside. People believe that if someone is homeless then they should be with the rest of the homeless population. This is something that needs to be changed and by doing research and making people aware of the homeless populations within their own counties gives them the opportunity to step in a try to make a difference.

http://dpss.co.riverside.ca.us/files/pdf/riverside-county2013homelesscountandsubpopulationsurvey-6.3.pdf

Importance of Accurately Counting Homeless Populations

Homelessness, Reflections on our Reading

As the Applied Survey Research website states, “The United States federal government … requires counties to count their homeless populations every two years in order to be eligible for continued federal funding” (ASR ). Because of this, counties are required to complete a Point In-Time count of homeless individuals in their county every two years. Other than requiring that this process be carried out, counties have few limitations or guidelines to follow.

While Point In Time counts seem like a good idea in theory, the truth of the matter is that each county has a high level of autonomy when it comes to deciding how these PIT counts are to be completed. While some counties perform entire canvasing techniques of counting, others do partial counts and sampling methods. This illustrates the potential flaws of these counts and their accuracy, as counties can very well represent the number that they want to represent their city versus the actual counts. The key problem is that some cities believe that high levels of homelessness in their region points to structural problems in the city, reflecting negatively on them. Because of this, their goal may be to find a very low number of homeless individuals.  However, this is not a good strategy in the long run because they will not obtain information on the main issues the homeless are facing or what services they require.
When it comes to counting in these Point In Time counts, each county has the option of deciding how they will carry out their counts of the homeless population. Another issue that surrounds each individual county gathering data in the ways that they want is that it would be incredibly difficult to compare two cities who have obtained the data in such different processes. While one city may place high importance on gathering the most accurate data on their homeless, another may downplay their amount of homeless by minimalistically sekking their data.
Some of the issues with gaining an accurate count, even if the cities are very concerned with obtaining good data is the lack of funding. Although these counts are a requirement of the Federal Government does not provide the funding to make these Point In Time counts happen. This means that the financial burden of carrying out these counts lies on the country itself. While counties and some non-profit organizations sponsor the counts, it seems that if there is a high importance of gathering accurate data on the amounts of homeless individuals, there needs to be additional government funding. Otherwise, each city can skimp by and gather their counts and other data as minimalistically as possible without any reprecussions. While it is very important to continue to produce these counts of homeless individuals, it is also important to gather reliable data and counts that are as accurate as possible. Without increased attention to the accuracy of these counts, it will be nearly impossible to offer the services and care that adequately serve the needs of the homeless.

 

http://www.appliedsurveyresearch.org/homeless/

Problems with P.I.T.

Homelessness, News link, People, Poverty

I found a news article on CNN today that relates perfectly to what we have been discussing in class for the past week. This article discusses some of the problems encountered during the P.I.T. (Point-in-Time) count of Camden County, New Jersey. Camden is the poorest city in the U.S. and has an unemployment rate of 13%. Yet last year’s P.I.T. count found only “589 homeless people in the 513,000-person county.” This makes it the perfect example of an area with a very understated homeless count.

As we’ve seen throughout this past week, there are many problems with the current system of P.I.T. counting. P.I.T. counts takes place within a 24-hour period in the last week of January at least every other year. These counts are required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for each county, but they are not funded by the government. There’s the first problem –  without proper funding, of course we are not going to get an accurate count. Furthermore, as the homeless in the CNN video repeated many times, homeless people often don’t want to be seen. There are many places that probably go unchecked by counters simply because they can’t see them. There are plenty of homeless sleeping in cars, couchsurfing, living in abandoned buildings or “tent cities,”and hopping back and forth from the street to various family members’ homes. All of these people fit HUD’s description of homeless. Yet they most often are not being counted in the “homeless census.”

Obviously, it is close to impossible to get a completely accurate count of homeless, since the numbers change from day to day as it is. But as shown by this article and the other data we have seen this week, there is a great importance in improving the P.I.T. count. The homeless are being under-counted and therefore misrepresented. These counts determine how much federal aid is given to the shelter systems, so they directly affect the people being misrepresented.

Understanding and Responsibilities

Causes of Homelessness, Reflections on our Reading, Solutions to Homelessness

Statistics prove that homelessness is a large systematic problem rather than an individual problem. Some methods in counting homeless people seek to minimize and deny the problem. After a foundation of what homeless life is like and examining statistics I am emotionally struck and determined to seek solutions. After beginning the book, Beside the Golden Door Policy, Politics, and the Homeless by James Wright, Beth Rubin, and Joel Devine, I am acquiring a better understanding of the issues, controversies, theories, social and demographic characteristics of the homeless, and methods of counting the homeless. I have uncovered several important points that contribute to a better understanding of homelessness. In addition, I am synthesizing similar ideas and data between this course, Hunger and Homelessness and Public Policy Analysis.

Beside the Golden Door is a combination of the authors own experience and social science and advocacy literature. In order to tackle homelessness a comprehensive understanding is required. This involves debunking myths. For instance uncovering facts show, “half or more of the homeless people do abuse alcohol and other drugs, but the other half do not” (7). Understanding the homeless population leads to developing effective solutions. Cost benefit analysis and a rationalism approach can be applied by policymakers. The “quality of urban life would improve if there were fewer homeless people” (9) because more individuals could contribute economically to markets and rely less on governmental assistance.

Understanding the homeless population can lead to coming up with effective solutions. The average age of homeless adults is in the mid-thirties due to the large non-means tested spending on Medicare and social security for the retired population. The welfare system is flawed because the people who need the assistance the most are the least likely to receive it. In the course Public Policy Analysis our most recent topic was welfare. The 1996 Temporary Assistance to Needy Families (TANF) has many failures, with the primary failure of a sharp decline in TANF caseloads. The TANF to poverty ratio fell in all states, but the impact differed in regions. Other flaws in TANF include block grants, contingency funds, restrictive eligibility policies, and short time limits.

A leading obstacle is the loss of low income housing, “the solution to homelessness is less poverty and more low-income housing, everything else treats the symptoms of homelessness but not the root causes” (29). Eradicating homelessness and helping those who are homeless conflicts with the underlying principles of the U.S. economy. A comprehensive approach to understanding homelessness is necessary. My hope is as a society we can move beyond hiding the problem and toward solving the problem.

*To purchase Beside the Golden Door: http://www.amazon.com/Beside-Golden-Door-Politics-Institutions/dp/0202306143/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1392499074&sr=8-

* To read more about TANF

2&keywords=Beside+the+golden+door TANF Center on Budgetand Policy Priorities

 

We All Endure, We All Live, We are All Human

Books and Films, Homelessness

The past week of book presentations had an impressive effect on not only how homeless people are perceived, but how people are perceived in general. Theses presentations have shown the different perspectives that are associated with certain groups of homeless people from Caucasian mothers to African-American males. Yet within these different categories of homelessness, all stories are connected no matter the race, age, or gender. There are similar stories of destructive childhoods, rape, substance abuse, and the economy to blame for their current predicaments. Don’t all these problems seem universal? That people other than the homeless can and have endured all these situations?

There seems to be this reoccurring thought that questions why homeless people are seen as less than the rest of society, less than a human being. They have done nothing to warrant this type of stigma against them. The other day I witnessed a professionally dressed man belittle and scold a mother living in her car with her young daughter, and I couldn’t help but think about how that reaction will affect this young child’s life. The stories that were from each book all focused on one’s upbringing and how events can lead to homelessness. In this case, I saw how society is visibly rejecting the homeless just by one professionally dressed man treating another human inhumanely. Will the child see herself as less of a person and think that she deserves negative treatment that comes her way because she lacks a house? Will she resent her mother for putting her in this situation? Or perhaps the she will understand and that there will be a more positive outcome for her? These books have taught me that the events in childhood can truly affect a person’s perception of society and themselves. Nowadays I ask myself what everyone around me has endured, what has made them the person they are today. Because all of us go through similar situations and, therefore, that is what ultimately will connect all of us together in the end. Our life experiences are what make us who we are – human.

 

“How I See Homeless People Now”

About being poor, Books and Films, Homelessness, Portraits of Homeless

In the article “ Anderson Cooper: How I See Homeless People Now”, he describes how his perception of homeless individuals has changed because of his encounters with dozens of people living on the streets of Nashville while working on a projects for 60 Minutes. Cooper expresses his surprise at the candidness and honesty shown by these homeless individuals when asked personal questions about their situations. He was stunned by the fact that the majority of these homeless persons seemed more than happy to share their tragic stories, with most of them just being glad to have someone take an interest in what they had to say. These series of interviews quickly proved to be eye-opening to Cooper and his team because of the diversity of stories, with many of the homeless coming from a variety of different backgrounds.

Cooper admits that prior to this project, he was guilty of walking past homeless people and simply pretending that they are not there, something that most people in society do because facing these people has the tendency to make others uncomfortable. He discusses the fact that to the majority of the population, these homeless individuals are invisible and ignored, and that is the way that they feel. This was a lesson learned by Anderson Cooper that he considers a huge source of personal growth. In his interview for 60 Minutes, he explains that there is a man who camps and panhandles in front of his residence and has been there for some time. Before this story, Anderson felt annoyed and uncomfortable with the man being there and never spoke to him at all. However, after completing this project Anderson has since spoken to this man almost daily, at least greeting him kindly as they pass one another. He has also taken an interest in this homeless man and learning about his past and the road that has lead him into homelessness.

This story relates to the course material that we have been covering because it reinforces the key theme shown throughout all the books, that homeless people have a story to tell and these stories are worth hearing. Individuals who take the time to listen to the stories of the homeless grow in understanding and compassion for those living on the streets. Whether these individuals are addicts, suffer from mental illness, have come from backgrounds of abuse, have suffered from a physical injury, or any of the other reasons that they have ended up in the situation of living on the streets, they deserve to be heard and taken seriously. In Morrell’s text Voices From the Street and many other course readings, the stories of homeless individuals and their daily struggles are heartbreakingly portrayed and they definitely change the perspective of outsiders. As Anderson Cooper concluded, homeless people are just like any other individuals that you may meet, they have hobbies, interests, fears, and struggles, the same as everyone else, but they just happen to live without a home and therefore are constantly disregarded and invisible. The opinions of people who discount the homeless as unimportant would undoubtedly be changed if they took the time to listen to the voices of those who are on the outskirts of society.

Internship at a church

About being poor, Causes of Poverty, Homelessness, Hunger

One of the best ways for a student to learn is to experience the subject they are focusing on in person. But it is even more rewarding to, in addition, have individuals highly experienced in the situation to pass on information about what one has just seen.

Today was the first day that I got to start my internship and help at one of the churches located in San Bernardino. My task today was to work in the soup kitchen and help provide a free lunch for the individuals that should up between the hours of twelve to one. It was a good day to show up, because one of the regulars that usually is there was out because of an emergency, so I took her place and worked side by side with a really nice, older, Spanish-speaking lady in the kitchen. We had a number of tasks to complete and I was actually surprised and the amount of food that was donated and those we worked with. A salad, pasta, and chicken with a nice spice on it was served along side some doughnuts and lemonade. It felt quite nice to accomplish all that in a short amount of time and to have most of it gone in that hour. I ask about how many people are served during a normal lunch, which happens five days a week, and at the beginning of the month there is usually 60-70 people, but at the end of the month it shoots up to 110-120. I thought it might be due to money running out at the end of the month, and I was partly correct, but found out the real reason later on. There were a number of really nice people that I met at this time, some being the workers and some being there for the food. But as I was getting close to being done with finishing up, I met this man who talked with me for a good forty-five minutes about the shelter, the surrounding area, and a few other things. He was the IT for the church, and filled me in on the hunger and homeless in the area.

First of all he told me that none of the people in the area are ever too hungry. There is an abundance of food in the area. With about six other churches on the same street that also have free lunches, people are never in any real danger of going hungry. He said there was so much food, that some of it even goes bad. There is always some bread that is molding and the other week there was a shipment of bananas donated that were not used.

Second, he told me that the main reason that there are so many homeless people is not because of financial situations, but because of drug use. A large portion of the people coming use drugs such as crack or meth and that is the reason that there are more people later in the month. This is because money is immediately spent on drugs and as soon as their cash runs out, they come back to the church. The reason they cannot get a consistent job is because of criminal records. He made a good point, that someone may get arrested for drug use, go to jail, and then have a record for seven years, not allowing that person to get a job and get back on their feet.

The whole system needs to be looked at, because it seems to be a giant cycle keeping these people from moving on from their past, and getting stuck without anywhere to go. I plan on researching this topic further, because what he said really did change my perspective on a lot of things dealing with this topic.

Homeless Count

Homelessness

When reading about the different ways homeless people are counted, I have found that there is a lot of room for error.  Starting with the street count, I believe there is no way to get an accurate count at any moment in time because there are so many people who would not be found.  It is a good idea, because without a number count of people who aren’t in shelters there is a huge lack of information, but I still feel there would be forgotten people.  One big area of forgotten people would be the homeless staying in their cars.  The people staying in their cars would not get counted in the shelter and institutional count or the street count.  As far as the surveys, random digit dials could be extremely ineffective.  There is no way of being accurate unless every household was contacted, which would be nearly impossible.  I do think the process of completing homeless surveys by homeless people would be very effective.  Because homeless people feel more comfortable with other homeless people, it makes sense to have them interviewing each other. The real question is how would there be a way of making it more accurate?  How is the ASR supposed to calculate all homeless people when there is no real way of talking to them all or surveying them all?

http://www.appliedsurveyresearch.org/homeless/

 

126,000 Millionaires & 58,000 Homeless

About being poor, Anti-Poverty Programs, Solutions to Homelessness

In this Huffington Post blog post by Joel John Roberts, an interesting solution to homelessness in L.A. is presented. Roberts reports that there are 126,000 millionaires in the Los Angeles area, living it up in their mansions and driving their Lamborghinis past the 58,000 people living on the street. What if the millionaires of L.A. took care of the homeless? Roberts suggests a “Two-for-One” program, where two millionaires can “pay for a person’s mental health care. Pay for the cost of rehab. Provide the means to get a job. Cover the tab of an apartment security deposit. And pay $1,000 per month for a tiny apartment.” Though this suggestion is not a completely serious one, it proves a point. It shows how ridiculously huge the gap is between the rich and the poor and it shows how easy it could be to solve the issue of homelessness in L.A. and other stratified cities in the U.S., if the people at the top only cared enough to do so. As Roberts states, “We [Los Angeles] are the epitome of the first world clashing with the third.” I believe that this solution could work, if only there weren’t so many stigmas against the homeless. If we could open people’s eyes and show them the reality of the homeless issue, they would understand that it can happen to anyone and that the people who live on the streets are not “lazy” or “just looking for a handout,” and they would be eager to help.

What do you think about this solution to homelessness? Would it ever happen? If it did happen, would it really work?

What are some other creative solutions to homelessness that you think would solve the problem?

ASR Findings

About being poor, Causes of Homelessness, Solutions to Homelessness

Applied Survey Research (ASR) is a federal requirement under Department of Housing and Urban Development. Counties must count their homeless population every two years in order to receive federal funding. ASR uses several methods to count the homeless population including: street count, shelter and institution count, telephone survey, and homeless survey. I reviewed the data from the LA Continuum of Care in 2007. The count for LA Continuum of Care consisted of 68,608 total people, with the median age of 45 years. The survey counted 22,376 chronic homeless people. Chronic homelessness in this survey is defined as, “an unaccompanied individual with a disabling condition who has been continually homeless for one year or more, or has experienced four or more episodes of homelessness within the past 3 years.” Gender and race are significant in regards to chronic homelessness with approximately 70% male and 29% females, African Americans making up approximately 48%. The survey also indicated the services and assistance used by the chronically homeless. 42% use free meals, 32% are not using any services, 24% use emergency shelter, 22% use health services, and 15% use mental health services. The survey found the top two reasons for being homeless to be economic issues including lost job or eviction. A statistic that stood out to me was failure to access housing services due to the lack of available beds. The survey found that 35% tried to access LA county shelter or a transitional housing program or both within 30 days prior to taking the survey; of those 45% had been turned away, the main reason due to lack of beds.  Data is available, yet the availability of data does not guarantee that the problem gets solved or that it draws public attention. Perhaps a problem is due to the media, which does not provide systematic evidence. I also looked at the homeless count from where I am from, Orange County. In 2009 the count was 8,333 homeless people. The number of sheltered people consisted of 31%, unsheltered 69%. This data is startling. In the book The Homeless by Christopher Jencks there is a statement, “the spread of homelessness disturbed affluent Americans for both personal and political reasons.” I see this statement to be true. For example, it can be understood that lack of shelters is a problem, a solution, create more shelters. Yet, nobody wants the homeless shelter in their neighborhood. Jencks poses the question, what is our moral obligation to strangers? What is wrong with the economic and social institutions? http://www.appliedsurveyresearch.org/projects_database/homelessness/