1. The face of homelessness has changed considerably, and the problem of "first-timers" brings with it new challenges to those who perform outreach and case management. This is primarily because until the vast majority of these new faces reaches "chronic" status, the resources available to help are slim to none. There's really nothing worse to experience as a service delivery specialist than to tell people you can't deliver services to them.
2. A recent article by the National Alliance to End Homelessness titled "No Increase in Homelessness Despite Recession" pointed to the 2010 Point in Time (PIT) count data to make this claim. Most folks I know in this field, especially those who are working in direct contact with the peeps on the streets, scoffed at the claim and countered that not only was their an increase in the population, it was a pretty dramatic increase to boot.
Now it could very well be that the 2010 PIT count was at least somewhat representative of the current state of homelessness in the country, although I doubt it because we all know these numbers are nothing more than guesstimates, and not very good guesstimates either, the reasons for which being something I've written about previously in this blog on several occasions. But it's far more likely that the PIT count dramatically under-reported the actual numbers right about the same time that the floodgates on those experiencing homelessness - especially those "new faces" of homelessness - were unleashed.
I would wager that Rohnert Park is indicative of the majority of other cities and towns around the country and I suspect that over the next couple of years, we'll see this kind of dramatic increase is going to become the norm, rather than the exception.
I'll also wager that it'll be even harder to accurately count folks in the future, as efforts by local law enforcement and downtown partnerships put tremendous pressure on the homeless population not to hang around in downtown areas. These folks will scatter and disappear into the burbs, the camps and the woods, and we'll miss more and more of them simply because we cannot find them any more.
On the plus side - if there is a tarnished silver lining at all - by the time we do find and count them, they'll have achieved the dubious but vaunted (by direct service workers, anyway) status of "chronically homeless" and we actually might be able to provide services for them. Unfortunately, by that point we'll need far more services to assist with the physical and mental illnesses, substance abuse, ruined credit, criminal records and the myriad other issues and problems that accompany the condition of homelessness.
Pennywise, pound foolish, and woefully off-base in our assessments of the situation. Pretty much describes just about every aspect of government involvement in anything.
Aren't you proud of your elected officials?
Report: 40 Percent Increase in Homelessness in Rohnert Park, Countywide
Recent data show that 55 percent of people counted were homeless for the first time, 74 percent were living unsheltered and nine percent were veterans.
Rohnert Park's documented homeless population increased from 97 in 2009 to 446 in 2011, or 40 percent, according to a final homelessness study released this month. That number comes to 1 percent of the city's total population — higher than the countywide average.
The report — compiled by the Sonoma County Continuum of Care, a homeless outreach program run by the county — is based on a boots-on-the-ground count of homeless people conducted in late January.
Organizers attributed the surge to better counting methods and fallout from the Great Recession.
Data show that Rohnert Park is no different than other cities in Sonoma County — countywide, the homeless population was on track with the city's, also at 40 percent.
Best estimates put the actual number at 12,565, or 2.6 percent of the county's population, which is up between 25 and 30 percent from 2009. Cloverdale, Healdsburg and Windsor's homeless population swelled to 421 from 284; the south county's (including Rohnert Park, Cotati and Petaluma) went from 637 to 1,025 collectively; Sonoma's increased to 183 from a mere 16, and in Santa Rosa, the uptick was almost double, at 2,320 from 1,487.
A staggering 55 percent of respondents said this was the first time they'd been homeless, and 48 percent reported a "disabling condition," including physical disabilities, substance abuse and mental illnesses.
More than 600 homeless individuals were interviewed at length following the count in an attempt to gather more detailed information.
Based on 617 profiles, 66 percent were males and 33 percent were female, 64 percent were white and the majority were between 31 and 60 years old.
Of Rohnert Park's homeless, fewer than 20 percent were sheltered, according to the report. The 78 who did have a roof over their heads were living at Vida Nueva, a transitional housing facility run by the Committee on the Shelterless (COTS).
Editor's note: The homeless census was done January 28 in conjunction with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Sonoma County and Applied Survey Research.
What does the increase in homeless people mean to you? Tell us in the comments.
