Help Needed for the 2011 Homeless Count
The 2011 Sonoma County Homeless Census & Survey Comprehensive Report came out May 10th. The report presents the results of the January 28 Homeless Census and 617 surveys conducted countywide in February. Counties receiving funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) are required to conduct these counts every two years. Where possible, the report compares this count to the 2009 count, conducted with the same methodology. Though more analysis is needed, we have tentative theories on what the data means.
4,539 people were counted in 2011, a 40% increase over 2009. About 30% of the increase was credited to improved effort on this second try using this method: including a Sonoma Valley deployment center and improved local knowledge in Rohnert Park. If that’s true, 70% of the increase is an actual rise in homelessness –28% overall. The surveys generate an estimate that 2.6% of Sonoma County residents (12,565 persons) experience homelessness annually.
For more information and a full copy of the 2011 Homeless Census and Survey Report, please visit:
sonoma-county.org/cdc/cdhomeless.htm
The project will again rely on homeless people toact as paid guides to reach encampments and places where homeless people gather. Homeless service providers will recommend people for the guide positions. Trainings will be scheduled for the week of January 17th, final dates will be posted at the above website as soon as they are confirmed.
There will be a general informational meeting on the Count on Friday December 10th from 9:30 to 11:30 am. A special informational meeting for youth and youth service providers only will be held to discuss the Youth Count on the same day from 2:00 to 4:00pm. Both will be at the County’s Community
Development Commission, 1440 Guerneville Road, Santa Rosa.
Sonoma County Homeless Counts 2009
The Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that each county that receives Continuum of Care funding for homeless transitional and permanent supportive housing and services conduct a 24-hour face-to-face Point-in-Time Count of homeless people every other year in the last two weeks of January. Applied Survey Research of Watsonville was contracted to conduct the 2009 Count. The Task Force for the Homeless was contracted by the County to conduct these Counts in 2005 and 2007. These reports contain considerable data on the people who were homeless at the time, their circumstances, and the issues that contributed to their situation. Both the 2009 Homeless Census and Survey and 2007 Homeless Count Reports are available below, as well as a summary of 2009 Count figures for the State from Housing California. The aggregate number of homeless people counted at the federal level from all the January 2009 Point-in-Time Counts was 643,000.
2009 Sonoma County Homeless Census And Survey in pdf