Homeless Table

[Bertoldo Beyer]

Iam working with some local nonprofits that serve the homeless population and who help people move into transitional housing. I'd like to get estimates of the size of these two populations broken down by age (broad categories) , gender and hopefully race.

There are very few Census tabulations (either ACE 5-year or the 2010 census -only a few 2020 census tables are out yet) that "break out", the individual Group Quarters type. The PCT39: GROUP QUARTERS POPULATION BY SEX BY AGE BY GROUP QUARTERS TYPE (from 2010 census) is available. This table goes down to at least the "CSD" "county subdivisiion" geography, which includes cities and towns typically. But I need the table for years between the decennial census and having race would be very helpful

I've contacted the people at the Census about a custom tabulation with these 3 variables: group quarters type x age x sex (and possibly race - very useful) using ACS 5-year data. They seem to be receptive that such a tabulation would pass the disclosure rules at the Core-Based Statistical Areas (CBSA) geography.. The Disclosure Review Board is looking at it. Hopefully I'll be able to spread the cost across several organizations and see if there are any grants or donations available.

Someone might suggest using a PUMS file, which has a group quarters / household flag but the group quarters type is only institutional/non-institutional so that won't work. With the "big area" tabulation I hope that I might be able to "pull down" the CBSA tabulation to the CSD level using the ACS 5 year data and some type of Small Area Estimation technique (qroup quarters subtype being the outcome in the regression.)

Any thoughts on any part of this greatly appreciated. I'll post what I am quoted for the custom tabulation. Also HUD, Housing and Urban Development, conducts a homeless census but they don't collect age and sex and they don't canvas people in transitional housing.

As an aside -- I was reading an earlier post about how a college dormitory might be classified based on if it was owned by the college or an outside developer. I contacted the people at the Census about a boarding house on my street to see if it was classified as a group quarters or if the ACS used the household survey for that "structure," I was interested because a local community organization uses the building as transitional housing for the formerly homeless. The address is in the Master Address FIle but you can't get the status as a group quarters v household. That piece of information is not available to the public. I believe that the local government helps with determining the status based on the US Census guidelines . But I doubt if the guidelines are detailed enough to have a classification scheme that applies across the entire country. There has to be local input.

I did look into the HUD "Point-in-Time" census, which is done in January every year. The reason that I am looking into ACS data is because I would like to get data for cities and towns that don't participate in the HUD census . Also the HUD data only has the "marginals" for gender only and age only but not the 2-way table with age by gender/sex.

One of the organizations that I have been talking with serves homeless women and women who are able to transition into housing in (group) homes. I did talk with the people at Boston City Hall and they are just about to submit data to HUD from their January count. I may be able to sign a Data Use Agreement with them to get access to their individual "person by person" records to be able to get the cross tabulations. Still I would only have data for Boston, which has substantially different demographics from surrounding areas. I know that this is an ACS forum, but if anyone has some creative ideas about how to approach this research let me know. I think that the ACS may be the only source of "universally collected/available" data. This is nonprofit pro bono research.

However, I'd add some additional cautions to using ACS group quarters data to estimate those experiencing homelessness: (1) there are some methodological reasons why data by institution type may be problematic for small areas (such as only controlling GQ by type at the state level), (2) some group quarters types are out-of-scope for the ACS. (See page 70 _general_handbook_2020.pdf) And (3) unsheltered populations are not reported (and are likely undercounted in decennial and ACS), and (4) counts of those living in shelters in the 2010 Census appear to be an undercount, based on HUD's point-in-time count for the same year.

I am not familiar with MHIS, It seems to be a system run by HUD (Housing and Urban Development). Do they have data available beyond the "Point-in-Time" homeless count datasets ? I'm also interested in transitional housing as well as "unsheltered" homeless.

Dear Dave: it is a register system, not PIT. There are variables pertain to housing or living situation. There is a variable for "Date of move-in". You may ask your local chapter to see whether they collect the information you need. Thank you.

Prevention and relief live tables, acceptances and decisions live tables, and temporary accommodation live tables listed below have all been discontinued as they were based on data collected via the P1E form which is no longer used. Similarly, Tables 784, 784a, 792, 792a and Detailed local authority level tables have been discontinued as they also used data collected via the P1E form.

Tables 772, 776, 783, 790 and 791 have been discontinued and are no longer being updated. They have been frozen following the decision made that regional totals should not be published in MHCLG statistics with effect from 1 October 2012.

Volunteers help with registering guests, preparing and serving meals, set-up, clothing distribution, and clean up. When you volunteer with us, you get the satisfaction of helping others and you'll enjoy working with our friendly, experienced volunteers -- you may even make new friends!

Time is spent with guests with special needs to help them put their lives together by establishing an address, getting Social Security cards, etc. and help in directing them to Government agencies or specific organizations for available assistance.

One goal of the ministry is to educate and provide cultural enrichment for our guests. Guest speakers educate our guests about legal rights and social services. Musicians provide special entertainment, such as the FUMC choir which sings around Christmas and Easter. Any person or group who is interested in the problems of homelessness or would like to entertain guests is welcome.

Partnerships with other agencies provide special services to guests or expand capabilities in service areas. This includes a partnership with DePaul University Law School to provide limited legal services, and Heartland Alliance.

At current rates of expenditure, total costs for 2019 come to $43,150. With the exception of the Grace Place rent, these costs are met entirely by the generous donations of Temple members and friends. Over $10,000 of these funds are spent on providing clothing to guests. This is in addition to many clothing donations. An average of 125 guests per week are served, with several weeks approaching 150. Over 100 volunteers help in different capacities, in addition to a committee of nine who make the executive decisions. The DePaul Neighborhood Legal Assistance Project, which partners with us by providing legal services to our guests, sees between 9 and 14 people every other week, and Heartland Alliance volunteers provide basic medical care to guests.

Most needed clothing items: Gently used jeans, t-shirts, hoodies, gym shoes, boots, and backpacks. In winter we need long-johns, coats, and gloves. Socks and underwear are purchased new. Larger sizes are always welcome. Donate these items in a package or, possibly better, donate the money for their purchase.

Most money goes to purchase food and clothing for guests. This works out to about $4.58 per guest per week, which is pretty economical considering that they receive a hot and cold breakfast and brunch as well as eggs, fruit, and pastries. In addition this covers the cost of providing guests with clean underwear and socks, as well as shoes from Soles 4 Souls, for which the ministry pays only the shipping costs.

Summer brings a bounty of foods that rouse the senses. Think of the satisfying crunch of corn on the cob, the snap of carrots or celery, the scent of strawberries, and the lusciousness of a plump Jersey tomato. No wonder June is National Fruit and Vegetable Month!

In fact, this past April we had the opportunity to show national leaders how Philadelphia provides nutritious food to kids who are staying in homeless shelters as part of the 2022 National Child Nutrition Conference in New Orleans.

The good news is that in the face of hardship, Philadelphia responded. Among others, OHS organized dozens of organizations that were already doing impactful work, mobilizing to create the Anti-Hunger Coalition.

The Coalition helped feed thousands weekly during the height of the pandemic. For example, from March 2020 to March 2022, more than 3.7 million meals were served in homeless shelters. A monumental effort that continues to this day.

This article is part of our 2022 contribution to the Homeless Crisis Reporting Project in collaboration with other local newsrooms. The collective works will be published throughout the week at homelesscrisis.press.

When I was an undergraduate student at Georgetown University, we had a priest named Father Tom King who used to hold a vigil every February to bring light to the fact that we had so many homeless people. This was in the late 80s, so we had upwards of 50,000 homeless people in D.C. We would invite homeless people in the Georgetown area to come on campus and have a candlelight vigil, and then we would sleep outside in solidarity with them.

Your website mentions that of the 80,000 people in Montgomery County experiencing food insecurity, most of them are immigrant women and children. Tell me about the demographics of the people you serve.

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