New York, NY – November 18, 2009 – (RealEstateRama) — Department of Homeless Services (DHS) Commissioner Robert V. Hess today announced that the eighth annual Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE 2010), a survey of individuals living on New York City streets, parks and other public spaces, will be held on the night of Monday, January 25, 2010. This is the sixth consecutive year that HOPE is being conducted Citywide, with the City challenging more New Yorkers than ever to volunteer for the efforts. This year, 3,000 volunteers are needed to canvass the five boroughs and survey the number of individuals living unsheltered on the streets.
“Over the last few years, thanks to reformed outreach strategies, we have seen significant progress in the number of homeless individuals moving from the streets into housing,” said DHS Commissioner Hess. “Through HOPE, we can regularly evaluate the effectiveness of our approach with street homeless clients, while also gauging where additional resources may be needed to further reduce the number of individuals living unsheltered Citywide. No New Yorker should have to sleep on the streets of this City, and I look forward to the night of HOPE, when more than 3,000 volunteers will join our efforts to help those who need it most.”
Volunteers can sign up by visiting nyc.gov/dhs and clicking on the HOPE logo. This year’s HOPE Web site includes more details about the HOPE count and information on street homelessness. During registration, volunteers will be able to take an interactive, online orientation approximately 10 minutes in length. Registrants can come back to the Web site at any time to take the orientation as a refresher, or if they didn’t have time to take it during registration.
Volunteers will meet at 10:30 p.m. on Monday, January 25, 2010 for training at sites located throughout the five boroughs. Following their orientation and training, teams will disperse to survey homeless individuals in assigned geographic areas from midnight until 4 a.m. This year, like others in the past, NYPD will be on-hand to assist throughout the course of the survey. For the 2009 survey, volunteers walked a total of 12,307 miles and surveyed more than 1,000 subway cars.
The HOPE 2009 Survey found unsheltered homelessness had decreased 47 percent from 2005, the first year DHS conducted HOPE in all five boroughs, accounting for 2,067 fewer New Yorkers living on City streets, in parks or in the subway system. There were 30 percent fewer unsheltered homeless individuals than in 2008.
HOPE is a critical part of DHS’ efforts to reduce chronic homelessness in the City. DHS uses the results to evaluate the effectiveness of current strategies to overcome street homelessness as well as developing appropriate housing resources for the most vulnerable New Yorkers currently living without shelter.
This year’s efforts to recruit volunteers are especially vital, as the City requests 500 more helpers to join the ranks than it has in previous estimates. The role of ordinary New Yorkers is not only instrumental to the survey’s results, but also mirrors the impact each person can have on a daily basis, by acting as the City’s ears and eyes, and dialing 311 to report a homeless individual in need of assistance.
In September, 2007, DHS restructured the City’s approach to street homelessness by developing an effective system of accountability by borough. Funding was allocated in correlation to percentage of street population by borough, and outreach teams reorganized to a single provider overseeing each borough. Direct relationships between providers and DHS, along with key interagency partnerships and targeted housing resources, have allowed for an efficient system reaching out to those most in need.
NYC Street to Home outreach teams operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week through all five boroughs. Because some unsheltered individuals do not view shelter as a solution, DHS has brought innovative alternatives, including approximately 420 Safe Haven and 200 stabilization beds online for outreach placement.
HOPE 2010 will employ the same methodology used in previous surveys. The City’s methodology for estimating the size of the street homeless population has been acknowledged as the national standard by the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Volunteer teams will canvass all areas identified to likely have street homeless individuals, as well as a random sample of those areas not identified as likely to have street homeless individuals. This allows DHS to account for unsheltered individuals who outreach teams might not be aware of, or who might not remain in one specific location.
In addition, for the sixth year, “decoys,” or trained individuals posing as homeless individuals, will be planted as a quality assurance measure. This shadow count helps to gauge the accuracy of the total estimate and allows the City to adjust its final estimate accordingly.
“During this difficult economic climate, more and more New Yorkers are asking how to help their neighbors who have fallen on hard times,” said Commissioner Hess. “The HOPE Survey always proves to be a memorable experience for our volunteers, while granting them the opportunity to make a positive impact on our great City.”
