 |
|
|
|
|
Friday, November 09, 2001
Census Releases Data On Homeless
By Kathleen Murphy, Staff Writer
|
|
Census-takers counted more people sleeping in homeless shelters in California and New York last year than in any other state.
Nationally, 170,706 people were in emergency and homeless shelters on March 27, 2000, according to a controversial Census Bureau report released last month. (10/30).
The report was released earlier than the Census Bureau planned after criticism from Democratic members of Congress, who said the bureau was trying to conceal the count.
Officials released only the number of people found sleeping in shelters but not the number of those counted who were sleeping on the street, eating at soup kitchens, or living in domestic-violence shelters. The government spent about $10 million trying to count the homeless last year.
The Census Bureau stressed that the shelter figures shouldn't be construed as a tabulation of the total population of "people experiencing homelessness."
Barbara Duffield, spokeswoman for the National Coalition for the Homeless, said the Census numbers "are essentially meaningless."
Duffield said the numbers, which show that the number of people in emergency shelters decreased by about 8,000 since 1990, bear no resemblance to what localities have experienced.
A recent report by the Urban Institute estimated that at least 800,000 people are in homeless situations on any given night, with between 2.3 million and 3. 5 million people experiencing homelessness at least once over the course of a year.
Some homeless advocates say a public count of the homeless heightens their visibility and promotes funding for assistance programs, but Duffield said, "This report isn't going to change anything."
The Census report said:
The sharpest percentage decrease in the nation's shelter population was in Pennsylvania. In 1990, Census-takers found 8,237 people in shelters, representing 4.6 percent of the nation's homeless. The 2000 count found 5,463 people in shelters, or 3.2 percent of the total.
New York had the most people in shelters in 2000, with 31,856, followed by California with 27,701. North Dakota had the lowest number of people in shelters, with 178.
Last year, 61 percent of the emergency and transitional shelter population was male, and 39 percent was female. People 18 and over represented 74 percent of the shelter population.
|
Comment on this story in the space below by registering with Stateline.org.
|
|
-
Most Recent Comments
-
Homeless Shelters
By Tonne Wakefield on Feb 12, 2007 12:26:28 PM
I do not believe that communal shelters is the answer to homelessness today. Many of them are like county jails. A person cannot grow in an environment surrounded by 50 other personalities and being dominated/used by the people who run them. Some of the people that work in these places are overbearing. I believe that transitionals/homeless should be built that have up to 44 rooms with 2 people to a room, housing up to 88 people, a community kitchen and bathroom so they can cook there own food. There are plenty of Churches today that feed homeless people and the ones who do not have funds for food can go to Church or someone in the house can feed them. Also, when a person applies for housing I do not believe that credit checks should be ran. It is not your landlords buisness to know your personal information or whether are not you pay your bills. The only thing that a landlord should be able to check is your housing status on evictions etc... Granted people are pulling together in hard times and helping the homeless which is good but I do not understand why more buisness loans are not being given out to people that are less fortunate.
Report as Offensive
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
 | Stateline.org has put together a list of state public policy resources organized by issue. Here, you will find useful links to essential information from government, academia, and think tanks. If you have a link to add, please email us.
|
| |
|
|
Powered by
By Tonne Wakefield on Feb 12, 2007 12:26:28 PM
I do not believe that communal shelters is the answer to homelessness today. Many of them are like county jails. A person cannot grow in an environment surrounded by 50 other personalities and being dominated/used by the people who run them. Some of the people that work in these places are overbearing. I believe that transitionals/homeless should be built that have up to 44 rooms with 2 people to a room, housing up to 88 people, a community kitchen and bathroom so they can cook there own food. There are plenty of Churches today that feed homeless people and the ones who do not have funds for food can go to Church or someone in the house can feed them. Also, when a person applies for housing I do not believe that credit checks should be ran. It is not your landlords buisness to know your personal information or whether are not you pay your bills. The only thing that a landlord should be able to check is your housing status on evictions etc... Granted people are pulling together in hard times and helping the homeless which is good but I do not understand why more buisness loans are not being given out to people that are less fortunate.
Report as Offensive