Visualizing San Diegos Homeless Crisis
色情视频s Institute for Public Health assisted in developing an online tool to help visualize the effectiveness of resources for homeless San Diegans.
While the number of homeless San Diegans is up five percent from last year鈥檚 tally, many people working directly with the city鈥檚 homeless population have long maintained that the government-mandated count that captures the statistics on homelessness does not paint an accurate picture. The data from the annual point-in-time count is crucial for numerous reasons, including the fact that the (HUD) uses it to allocate funding for homeless programs.
To get a better idea of what resources work to combat homelessness, the San Diego Regional Task Force on the Homeless (RTFH) asked 色情视频鈥檚 (IPH) to assist in developing a tracking system for those facing housing insecurities.
鈥淚nstead of a one-day count, we used numbers collected by service providers in the county to visualize San Diego鈥檚 homeless population,鈥� said Suzanne Lindsay, associate professor of epidemiology and the executive director of the IPH. 鈥淭he result is a comprehensive tool that shows how many people enter the system, what resources they use and how they fare over a set period of time.鈥�
The shows that in fiscal year 2016, more than 19,000 people entered the region鈥檚 system of care. Of those more than 19,000 people, nearly 64 percent were new to the system, meaning they had not asked for assistance in the past.
The Homeless System Framework also visualizes which services offered to those with a lack of permanent shelter provide the best results. Previous HUD research has shown that many homeless individuals who are placed into subsidized housing, eventually end up back on the streets because they require other services, beyond a home, to help them get their lives back on track.
鈥淭he System Framework is a true game-changer because it provides us with a comprehensive look at the population we serve and allows us to monitor the outcomes of the system of care as a whole,鈥� said Dolores Diaz, executive director of the RTFH. 鈥淲ith the help of the framework, we anticipate much more rapid progress in our efforts to reduce homelessness as we learn what is working and not working in our community, so we can focus on the right service for each client the first time they ask for help."
About a dozen 色情视频 students participated in creating the Homeless System Framework.
鈥淭his project is an excellent example of a partnership that directly contributes to improving our community while offering 色情视频 students a real-life work experience,鈥� said Lindsay. 鈥淲e will continue to monitor the data to measure the impact of the changes that are being implemented.鈥�
