HOMELESSNESS
Who Counts?
Chicago’s annual homeless count provides a “snapshot” of who is sleeping on the street, but critics say it’s inaccurate and can be traumatic. BY CHARMAINE RUNES
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ne of the first things I noticed when I met Ricky Berner were his slippers. They were a soft tan and waffle-knit, with a darker brown strip running along the bottoms and a smiling sloth stitched on the toes. I told him I liked them and asked where he had gotten them. "I don't know," he said, adjusting his red beanie to cover his ears. "Somebody dropped them off, I'm sure. We got a lot of people down here who just bring us lots of stuff." We were on Lower Wacker Drive, where Ricky has slept for the past six months. He had just finished answering a survey conducted by Homeless Outreach and Prevention staff from Chicago's Department of Family and Support Services (DFSS). He was one of thousands of Chicagoans DFSS counted this year. Since 2013, the DFSS has coordinated a Point-in-Time (PIT) count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness, as mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The counts, which are conducted every January, include a survey that collects demographic and social service data. Typically, DFSS recruits hundreds of volunteers from other city departments, for-profit and nonprofit organizations; colleges and universities; and the general public to conduct the count. The goal of the census is fourfold: to inform service and resource planning, apply for funds to serve unhoused folks, build public awareness of homelessness, and track trends over time. In the 2020 count, DFSS identified 5,390 people experiencing homelessness, two-thirds of whom were staying in shelters the night 26 SOUTH SIDE WEEKLY
of the count. The remaining third slept outside: in parks, in airport terminals, in train stations, and on the streets. On January 25, the day before the 2021 PIT count officially started, Chicago moved into Phase 1b of its COVID-19 vaccine rollout. While Phase 1b includes Chicagoans in homeless shelters, the city has not announced any plans to offer and administer vaccines to unsheltered residents. In an email to the Weekly, a CDPH spokesperson said the Department is working with Heartland Alliance Health to provide services to unsheltered people, and “is actively planning mobile outreach to encampments and other places frequented by people experiencing homelessness to reach this population.” Berner said he tries to learn as much as he can about COVID-19 and the vaccine rollout by doing online research and reading newspapers. "I'm not too sure about the vaccine," he said firmly. "I want to wait and see, you know, how it works out with other people. I don't want to take something that might potentially make me sick." Concerns around the COVID-19 pandemic, which as of press time has killed 4,634 Chicagoans, pushed HUD to loosen its requirements for the annual count, giving rise to a very different methodology and implementation plan on the local level. Instead of relying on cadres of volunteers, DFSS sent out only trained staff from the city and homeless services organizations. Instead of trying to conduct the count in a single overnight shift, DFSS spread their efforts over four days, from January 26 through January
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COURTESY OF DFSS
DFSS counted people who were sleeping outside in targeted census tracts, instead of canvassing all neighborhoods as previous counts had done. 29 during business hours. And—likely because they lacked volunteer support this year—DFSS targeted "particularly concentrated pockets," where unhoused people are known to gather, rather than canvassing every neighborhood as it has typically done. In an email to the Weekly, a spokesperson for DFSS said that despite these significant changes, they are confident in the PIT count data they compile. But even in a normal year, the count may not accurately represent the state of homelessness in Chicago. "It's a literal eyeball count," said Julie Dworkin, director of policy at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH). "We don't
really put a lot of stock in [its] accuracy." Instead, CCH uses the most current U.S. Census data from the American Survey to estimate the number of unhoused Chicagoans for their advocacy efforts. Their latest annual report shows that 76,998 people experienced homelessness over the course of 2018; the PIT count from that same year was 5,450. Berner said he doesn't remember ever being part of previous PIT counts. He has slept on Lower Wacker Drive for the past six months and stayed on State Street prior. "We have a tent over there," he said, pointing across the busy road. "We have it insulated with blankets, and we use heat candles inside for heat."
