This week in class, we will be reading, learning and discussing about the practices and methods behind homeless counts. I came upon an article published today, Monday, Feb 8, 2016 titled “New York City to Embark on Annual Count of Street Homeless.” New York City will be undergoing the HOPE count later tonight with several thousand volunteers. In recent years, the homeless problem has been a serious issue in New York City and has been a frequent topic in the news.

New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio recently launched a new program called HomeStat, a program that covers 7 blocks in the city each day, making contact with the homeless in that area. The outreach workers make efforts to encourage the homeless to gain access to the shelters and services in the area. However, many of the homeless do not believe that the services offered are affective.

The volunteers will be trained for a few hours prior to heading out on the streets to count. Last year, the count recognized about 3,200 people as homeless. However, recently, many have noted that there are probably much more homeless that have gone uncounted. I find it interesting that there are so many issues and controversy surrounding homeless counts. While I do not know much about the processes around homeless counts, it seems that it will be interesting topic to continue learning about. I am anxious to learn more about homeless counts and hear from some experts about the counts.

Here’s the link of the article if you’d like to read more. http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/york-city-embark-annual-count-street-homeless-36790261