# What is everyones opinion on the 1 night homeless count.



## Art101 (Feb 11, 2015)

How can any state county or city use a one night count to claim how many homeless they have.It seems to me that it there are 364 other days that people are homeless.Maybe I am being nit picky but I know someone wanted to count me I would tell them to go pound sand.I guess it makes people feel good and give them ability to say "look at me I helped the homeless ".Seems like a giant waste of time to me.Just my opinion and we know what those are like.Looking forward to reading others responses.


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## EphemeralStick (Feb 11, 2015)

Honestly, I hadnt heard of this before your posting. From what I can tell it seems like a decent program but I see your point. All I can think to say is minimal help is better than no help I suppose.


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## Tude (Feb 11, 2015)

I never heard of it either. So on goes the sherlock holmes hat ...

This came from an old article for a count done here in Rochester ny in 2012 - on a why and how.

"These volunteers are conducting a Point in Time Count for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The Count aims to measure homelessness over the course of one night every January. Every year, around the last week of January, volunteers across the country head out into their communities to survey the homeless. The most vital information the volunteers gather are age, gender and the person’s location. If the homeless person is willing to provide more information, the volunteers ask them how long they have homeless, what circumstances led to their homelessness and what sources of income they may have. According to Tree Clemonds, the director of resident services at the Sojurner House, the data collected from the survey is used to determine how much need is in the community. It also used to figure out how much federal funding a community can get to help its homeless population.

Read More at: http://www.13wham.com/news/features...s/volunteers-conduct-homeless-count-115.shtml
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This came from a current article. http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/loca...ork-City-to-Count-the-Homeless-291366801.html
(not posting whole thing - but it is an interesting article with assorted facts and figures)
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*One Night to Count the Homeless: Critics Question Accuracy of Annual Tally*
*Annual count remains contentious as critics question accuracy*
*By Noreen O'Donnell*

The woman pushing a grocery cart was one of the few out on the streets of downtown Brooklyn after midnight Tuesday as a team of volunteers spread out in search of homeless people trying to keep warm in the frigid air.

Wearing a single mitten in the 20 degree weather and a T-shirt under her jacket, she declined an offer of a van to a shelter. She was the daughter of Coco Chanel and been kidnapped, she told the team at one point.

The volunteers were among a cadre trying to count New York City's homeless population and so they logged her answers to their questionnaire and moved on — though because the early morning was so cold they were making sure no one they encountered was in danger. Last year's count drew 3,000 volunteers and the tally's organizers were hoping for a similar number of volunteers on Monday.

Now in the 10th year, the nationwide estimates of people in shelters and on the streets are required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and they remain contested, particularly over whether they are accurate.

Patrick Markee, the deputy executive director for advocacy at the Coalition for the Homeless in New York, said the survey’s flawed methodology resulted in an undercount of people who are on the streets.

“The idea of doing a single night count or guesstimate of all of homeless people on the streets of New York City, which has the largest homeless population in the country, is just by its very nature kind of absurd,” Markee said.

A better approach would be to talk to staff at soup kitchens, shelters and other front-line organizations and estimate their use over a month, he said.
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I'm in contact with several shelters downtown here (several students in classes associated with me volunteer to do their required 115 hours a semester fieldwork there) - and none of the agencies websites/facebook pages mentioned this event. Wonder how much funding comes in from the feds based on the "need" aka homeless count?


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## Deleted member 20 (Feb 11, 2015)

They do it in Boston & use clueless volunteers to collect the data. They do it on the coldest days of the year & I am sure its about grants & federal funding. I wonder if they calculate how many people are in shelters, jail, rehab & hospitals during this time? 

I cant see why any homebum would remain in the northeast in the winter & why not head to warmer places like Southern Fla,Texas,Nola, NM, AZ or Puerto Rico. I am sure that there are others who will agree that humbums dont make any fucking sense hence the collections of foolish items & crazy language that they use. Thank God I know that such options exist & I can adjust my locations as my situation changes.


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## Art101 (Feb 11, 2015)

I would imagine the shelters and such report at least quarterly.I know the Boise rescue hole ran police checks on everyone and required you to put some of your paycheck into their checking account on the guarantee that you get it back sans the interest.They also got aid from the city of Boise and Idaho for housing parolees and people in drug court.Got kinda off topic but usually you have to sign in when you check in so they can keep an accurate count for funding.So yeah its all about the benjamins lol.


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## dyingslowlyeveryday (Feb 11, 2015)

The ft worth count was hilariously stupid. A bunch of yuppies organizing "search parties" the week prior. Inordinate excitement from people likely to consider the count as filling their yearly humanitarian volunteer duty. (just rant, they were probably less than half of the counters)

They could only officially count from 930pm to 1am on a rainy, cold thursday night. But (from what community advocates claimed) counters wouldn't "trespass" or go to "unsafe areas" like anywhere that they had to get out of a car to check out. The "SW (outer)" (where I was staying) count was 4. In the camp I was staying in, there were 20+ people, and the homeguards there claim there are two other bigger camps in the area. And homeless in jail or temporarily motelled aren't homeless by hud's definition at the time.

Trying to help the cause is a minefield itself, as cops are known to evict campers en masse during the first week of Feb.



> I would imagine the shelters and such report at least quarterly.


Afaik, they just use a yearly average for hud, and don't report federally any other time.


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## Art101 (Feb 11, 2015)

Now that you mention the same thing would happen in Seattle with the tearing down of the jungles around the same time.


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## Deleted member 20 (Feb 11, 2015)

I think that to ensure they dont count people twice the volunteer counting force should shoot all he homeless with paintball guns to properly tag em.


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## Deleted member 20 (Feb 11, 2015)

ahh hello Raymond Tylicki thanks for showing your ugly face so soon


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## bwc (Oct 17, 2016)

Art101 said:


> How can any state county or city use a one night count to claim how many homeless they have.It seems to me that it there are 364 other days that people are homeless.Maybe I am being nit picky but I know someone wanted to count me I would tell them to go pound sand.I guess it makes people feel good and give them ability to say "look at me I helped the homeless ".Seems like a giant waste of time to me.Just my opinion and we know what those are like.Looking forward to reading others responses.


Bringing back an old post since the HUD point in time count takes place every year in January. The organization I work with was one of the lead organizations for the last years count. The counts are no where close to accurate. Anyone who is homeless is asked to take a survey about when they became homeless, where they slept last night, how long they have been homeless and info on family members. No names or other personal info is required except a birthday. Each person who takes the survey is given a $5 card for gas, grocery or fast food. Although its impossible to count how many are homeless especially unsheltered and youth - id say it is approx. 20% of the actual total. There are to many who do not participate, the school districts have the most accurate numbers for families yet privacy law they do not submit a count. The lighthouse rescue mission in Nampa (part of the Boise rescue mission) had a count of Zero. In Idaho they would rather criminalize the homeless and act as though they don't exist than help.


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## Kal (Oct 18, 2016)

I won't let them count me who says I am homeless the world is my home.


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## SophiaII (Oct 18, 2016)

Was a big todo in St. Aug every year about this. Count was always half or less of the true number as far as i could tell.


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