Street counts were conducted in Manhattan and some subways in 2003, expanded to include Brooklyn and Staten Island in 2004, and extended to all 5 boroughs in 2005. The final estimate of the number of unsheltered homeless people is the sum of those actually counted in high-density zones and a statistical extrapolation from those counted in the random sample of low-density zones. Counting teams are instructed to interview all people encountered awake in their zones, to determine whether they are homeless and without shelter, and to count those found asleep. Volunteer counting teams are sent to all high-density zones and to a random sample of low-density zones between midnight and 4 am on a single night in late February. The department relies on service providers and police (as well as the experience gained during counts conducted in previous years) to classify each zone as high or low density, reflecting whether homeless people are likely to be found there in the middle of the night. 4įor purposes of its annual street count, New York’s Department of Homeless Services divides the entire city, including transportation hubs and the subway system, into small zones (i.e., into a few contiguous blocks or a subway station). As a result, surveys of their users must determine whether the arrangements of these individuals on the night in question meet operational definitions of homelessness. Conversely, many people using such services as soup kitchens are not homeless. 2, 3 They also depend on enumerators determining which individuals should be counted as homeless, and such judgments, whether made through observations or interviews, are subject to a host of inaccuracies. 1 Counts of visibly homeless individuals miss unsheltered people who remain out of sight during the counts. HUD endorses 2 methods of obtaining point-in-time counts of unsheltered homeless people: directly counting people in public places or screening those using selected services to determine whether they are homeless and without shelter. The 2 strategies described here were used to assist New York City’s ongoing efforts to improve methods of estimating the size of its unsheltered homeless population. However, estimating numbers of homeless people living on the street, in parks, or in “unconventional” housing is another matter. Typically, few problems are involved in counting those individuals who are sheltered each night methods to ensure that counts are not duplicated over time are also available. Communities are required to include estimates of local homeless populations in applications for US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) Continuum of Care funding for programs responding to homelessness.
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