Homeless Count Comes To Queens
BY RICHARD GENTILVISO

Among the 3,843 homeless people counted as living on the streets of New York City last year only 66 were found in Queens, making it the borough with the fewest. The city's fifth annual homeless street count will take place on the night of Jan. 29, 2007, about a month earlier than previous years.

Plans for the Homeless Outreach Population Estimate, HOPE 2007, in all five boroughs (the first three counts were limited and did not include Queens) were presented at the December meeting of the Queens Borough Cabinet.

More than 2,500 volunteers are needed to canvass the city to count the number of individuals who are living unsheltered on streets, in parks, subways, and other public spaces, according to the city Department of Homeless Services (DHS).

In 2004, Mayor Michael Bloomberg released a five-year plan to end chronic homelessness, of which, a key goal is to drastically reduce the number of people living on city streets by two-thirds by 2009. After last year's homeless street count, the number of individuals found living on the streets was down by 13 percent from the year before.

The method used on January 29 will be the same as in other counts. All volunteers receive their training on the night of the count at training sites throughout the five boroughs. Volunteers will be assigned to teams of four to five with an experienced team leader. Teams conduct a brief survey with each individual they encounter. Surveys are designed to assess each person's housing situation.

Volunteers are asked to stay until 4 a.m. although many teams complete their assignments by 2 a.m. Last year volunteers walked a total of 8,101 miles and surveyed more than 1,000 subway cars. Police officers accompany many volunteers and staff remains at training locations throughout the night to be in contact with volunteer teams via cellphone.

Areas identified as likely to have homeless individuals on the streets will be canvassed as well as a random sampling of those areas not identified as likely to have homeless.

"Brooklyn and Queens are very large boroughs and very difficult to canvass," said a DHS representative at the borough cabinet meeting. "We need good information as to where the homeless are in these boroughs."

Critics say the results are not representative and distract from the real problem. For example, abandoned buildings and private property are not included as places the homeless are likely to be found. Statistical corrections for people who are missed are handled by sending out other volunteers, known as "decoys", who act as if they are homeless.

Under the Housing First initiative, homeless people coming to DHS are offered housing alternatives instead of just shelter. As part of the mayor's five-year plan, the city has pledged to build more housing units directed at chronically homeless individuals.

"It's not acceptable that nearly 4,000 of our fellow New Yorkers are living on the streets," said DHS Commissioner Robert Hess in a press release. "One way concerned citizens can help is by calling 311 and volunteering one night to help estimate the size of the street homeless population."