Lana “LJ” Juhala has been sleeping in the same Phoenix alley for over eight years. Her neighbors knew she was there. So did police and city officials, she said.
But as far as Juhala knows, she was never officially counted as part of the homeless population in Phoenix or Maricopa County. She didn’t even know there was a count until a few days ago, she said.
“I’ve heard about this, but no, no one came,” she said. “I was lonely.”
Tuesday, January 24th is the number of people experiencing homelessness at any point in the year. Each year, volunteers across the country spend his day in January trying to count the number of unprotected people in their communities. They check under bridges and bus stops, inspect alleyways, and make their way through homeless camps. Their hard-earned data provides a vital snapshot of homelessness and helps form the primary data source on homelessness across the country.
But the data are also flawed.
In context:Arizona has one of the worst homeless crises in the country, federal data shows
There are many, like Juhara, who carelessly miss and cannot be counted. Others hide or move locations all day long. Bad weather, lack of volunteers, and other factors can further hinder the count. County-level planning groups pour resources into organizing and implementing counts, which are reasonable estimates at best and severe underestimations at worst.
That reality has prompted some researchers, homeless advocates, and government officials to ask: Are there better ways to count the number of people experiencing homelessness?
Some counties, such as Maricopa and Pima, already have more accurate data on their homeless populations, which county leaders believe. But federal requirements require counties to continue point-in-time counting even as better data becomes available. The count will stay here until these requirements change.
“These People Count”: Why Point-in-Time Counts Matter
Most experts agree, though imperfectly, that point-in-time counts are important.
The greatest strength of this count, as many experts believe, is how long the community has been doing it. In the 1980s, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development began attempting to count the number of people experiencing homelessness nationwide each year. The methodology, which is directed by the HUD and includes both protected and unprotected numbers, has changed little over the years. Its consistency allows the community to compare year-to-year counts.
For example, the homeless population in Arizona increased by 23% between 2020 and 2022, according to point-in-time count data. These numbers show the general extent and acceleration of the problem to the public, service providers and legislators.
The point-in-time count data has become “a national speedometer for our efforts against homelessness,” said David Bridges, special assistance programs administrator for the Arizona Department of Housing.
This data can also be used to compare counties, as each county uses roughly the same method.
But Bridge said the number is just one measure of homelessness, and the tally is best used in conjunction with other available data.
Lisa Glow, CEO of Central Arizona Shelter Services, says data aside, counting people is important.
“All these volunteers and institutions, the fact that we’re going out and counting people are saying, ‘These people can be counted.
Why are point-in-time counts problematic?
Previously, Juhara said she did her best to keep a low profile during her stay in Alley. That may have contributed to her not being identified by point-in-time tally volunteers.
“Like I said, I have to keep a low profile, so I’m hiding,” she said.
Today she will almost certainly be countless. She’s been temporarily staying at her neighbor’s house for the last month, and there’s no way the counter knows she’s there.
For years, the flaws of point-in-time counting have been widely acknowledged. How wrong a county’s numbers are depends on how well it counts. Bridge said resource-rich counties like Maricopa are more likely to get accurate numbers, but rural counties may struggle more.
“In some counties, the numbers can skew significantly,” Bridge said, adding that some counties may rely on one or two volunteers.
current situation:Homeless camps in Tempe are harvested 40% earlier after fall
Academic researchers have long investigated ways to improve counting.
In 2013, local college students in El Paso, Texas, attempted to recreate the counting from that point in time. After two months of training, students made their own counts and intentionally included people from limited housing such as Spanish-speaking areas, day labourers, and fellow students sleeping on friends’ couches. rice field.
Compared to official data, students found hundreds more.
Ernesto Castañeda, who spearheaded the El Paso project and is director of the Center for Latin American and Latino Studies at American University, says a point-in-time count is far better than nothing. However, he said the scope needs to be expanded to include people especially in “non-traditional” settings.
In an e-mail, Castaneda said, “Trusts should be made in their respective communities to count agricultural workers, day labourers, recently arrived asylum seekers and other hard-to-reach people who may not have stable housing. It is doable and important to try to purposefully recruit people who are
What are the alternatives to point-in-time counting?
Arizona’s two most populous counties, Maricopa and Pima, already have data that they believe provides more accurate homelessness than the numbers at the time.
Data is obtained from the Homeless Management Information System. This is a computer database that counties use to track people who work in homeless services. Every time a person visits a shelter or other service her provider, the database captures the interaction.
HUDs allow local governments to use database information to estimate the number of people in shelters at a given point in time. But leaders in Maricopa and Pima counties believe the database will give them a better picture of how many people live on the streets, in cars, and surfing sofas.
The homeless management information system data is also not perfect. If a user does not interact with any service provider, that user will not be included in the system. However, Pima County found the information in the database to be far more accurate than point-in-time data.
In 2022, due to COVID-19, HUD allowed Pima County to submit homeless management information system data instead of enforcing point-in-time street counts.
To estimate the unprotected population, Pima County contacted data from the Homeless Management Information System with services dedicated to unprotected people, such as street outreach programs, within the past 30 days to determine if they were still protected. We included those who were not. It also included people who had left the shelters during that period because they had nowhere else to go.
Officials said the results were much more accurate than point-in-time counts for the year.
For example, 2022 Homeless Management Information System data showed that 467 unprotected people were listed as families with children.
Means:Winters are harsh for the homeless in Phoenix.Here’s how to help
The county’s 2020 count data did not include unprotected families.
said Jason Thorpe, Community Services Manager for Tucson’s Housing and Community Development division. According to Thorpe, the family members are usually in their cars or parking lots to avoid being seen, making it difficult to count.
Due to HUD requirements, Pima County has returned to doing regular point-in-time counting this year. But the county will also continue to use the new methodology, Thorpe said.
“Regardless of the model that the federal government requires, we want to understand what’s really happening on the ground,” Thorpe said.
Katie Gentry, regional homeless program manager for the Maricopa Government Association, which oversees Maricopa County’s point-in-time counts, agreed that the homeless management information system’s data is far more accurate.
Maricopa County already has Quarterly Report on Homelessness Trends Using information from the database, Gentry said.
She said she hopes database information will eventually replace point-in-time counts. But it will likely take a long time to get there, as every county in the country has to participate, she admitted.
“Traditionally, the federal government isn’t the fastest to change when it comes to things like this,” Gentry said.
Juliette Rihl covers housing insecurity and homelessness in the Republic of Arizona.she can be reached at jrihl@arizonarepublic.com or on twitter @julietterihl.
A grant from the Arizona Community Foundation supports azcentral.com and coverage of housing insecurity in the Republic of Arizona.
