“Stand Up and Be Counted”: The Politics of a Homeless Enumeration

Abstract

This study analyzes the methodological and political issues associated with homeless enumerations. While enumerations represent just one aspect of homeless politics in the United States, they incorporate many debates that are central to understanding homelessness. How to define homelessness and how to find and account for a transitory, stigmatized population are chief among the quandaries faced by counties undertaking enumerations; the extent of these difficulties calls into question the reliability of enumeration results. In studying one U.S. county's efforts to count the homeless in 2005 and 2009, this paper illuminates the obstacles faced by counties undertaking enumerations, and connects those challenges to broader debates about homelessness and homeless policy making in the United States.

The Impact of Federal Homelessness Funding on Homelessness

“…Sheltered homelessness depends on shelter availability, making it relatively straightforward to enumerate. Unsheltered homeless estimates involve scouring the community to identify individuals who often do not want to be found, as qualitative investigations indicate (Williams ). The measurement error of unsheltered counts is likely a relevant source of attenuation bias.…”

“…HUD has invested heavily in educating local practitioners and establishing common enumeration methodologies since then, so data have improved over time (HUD 2014). 16 One scholar notes that HUDs PIT counts have become "a high stakes numbers game" (Williams 2011). Lucas (2016) discusses these data shortcomings and the unreliability of these data as well as the rent-seeking implications of the governments imposition of common definitions and counting methodologies for measuring homelessness.…”

“… One scholar notes that HUD's PIT counts have become “a high stakes numbers game” (Williams ). Lucas () discusses these data shortcomings and the unreliability of these data as well as the rent‐seeking implications of the government's imposition of common definitions and counting methodologies for measuring homelessness.…”

Estimating Homelessness in the Netherlands Using a Capture-Recapture Approach

“…3) A specific part of the literature concerning estimations of the homeless comprises the use of techniques to monitor and evaluate the count or enumeration of homeless people during S-night, the census in the USA and Australia (Cousineau and Ward 1992;Devine and Wright 1992;Edin 1992;Hopper, 1992;Stark 1992;Williams 2011;. Cowan et al (1986) referred to this approach as a single-contact census.…”

The impact of the crisis on homelessness in Spain: social intervention in a context of greater need and fewer resources

“…The quantification of the homeless collective has been, and continues to be, an important element of study, which has given rise to certain difficulties associated with its characteristics and definitions (Avranov, 2002;Busch-Geertsema, 2010;Williams, 2011). At the European level, for example, there are different definitions and methodologies depending on the country (European Observatory on Homelessness, 2012; FEANTSA, 2012b).…”