Data Matters

Fight Homelessness With Data
Boston Globe 7/2o/07

IN THE 1980S, volunteers fought homelessness with bread lines and soup kitchens. But as the lines got longer, it became clear that a meal and a cup of sympathy weren't enough.

Now public policy is getting smarter, and instead of managing homelessness, the federal government is seeking to end it. Rather than join sleep-outs, officials are relying on data. This change should transform lives and mesh well with state and local efforts.

As a researcher, and a fan of quant at that, articles like this one excite me. Not just because they are good job security (and who doesn't love job security?), but because I'm a big believer in research, we need to understand the intricacies of the problem if we are going to find a way to solve it. Understanding homelessness requires more than anecdotal evidence. We also need to know who these people are, what brought them to the streets, and what the barriers preventing them from getting/staying housed are.

Counts of the homeless are conducted annually, usually in January, as point in time samples; a group of volunteers hit shelters, soup kitchens, and the streets to literally count each and every homeless person that they can find. While they don't get everyone the counts are useful to compare changes from year-to-year, if the methodology doesn't change. And the fact that the department of Housing and Urban Development requires counts for funding is a bit of a motivator to get out and conduct one.

For some more info on counts and a great report:
New Homeless Count Shows Need For More Housing
NBC 30 7/20/07 [Homeless count in CT]-2007 Point In Time Result Full Report

MSU Students to Survey Area Homeless
News-Leader.com 7/67/07 [Three-day count as follow-up to one day count]