Letter to the editor: DSS responds to charges of misrepresentation in street homelessness survey

“Who was counted? City continues to misrepresent street homelessness survey results” (April 29) responded to 2016 findings from the annual, federally required Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (HOPE) count. There are two important issues to address in this piece.

First, the article left out the essential fact that the de Blasio administration relies on far more than HOPE count results to accurately identify and provide services to street homeless New Yorkers. The recently launched HOME-STAT initiative—the most comprehensive street homelessness outreach initiative in any major US city today—includes three quarterly overnight counts, daily canvassing and community reporting through 311.  This information is then provided to greatly expanded outreach teams that have more tools to help to successfully bring more people in off of the streets.  The same press release that reported on the HOPE count also provided data from the first monthly HOME-STAT dashboard. Last month, we had 861 street homeless clients actively on the case load, another 1,604 street homeless potential clients being offered services and 952 formerly street homeless clients in transitional housing and receiving ongoing support to help them stay off of the streets.

Second, the article’s main point relies on past incorrect information provided several months ago by the Department of Homeless Services that the HOPE count only counts “chronic” street homeless.  We apologize for this error. In fact, the HOPE count is not intended to and does not count only “chronic” street homeless individuals.  While it is certainly true that a count in winter will find only those outside who are most resistant to shelter of any kind and many of them may fit the technical definition of “chronic,” which is people who have been living on the street for a year or more or repeatedly over several years and who have mental health or other health issues.  But, the HOPE count does not ask questions about either length of time on the street or health status­—information needed to assess whether someone is a chronic street homeless individual. Instead, the HOPE count includes everyone sighted outside or in the subways during the count who appears to be homeless or reports being homeless. That information is then applied to a federally certified methodology to create an estimate of total street homeless individuals.

The City’s goal is not just to count street homeless New Yorkers, but to identify them and connect them to effective services that with patience may bring them off the streets. New York City will continue to conduct the HOPE count, which is required by the federal government to receive important funding. But it is now just one part of a comprehensive program designed to help those living on the street find their way to a home.

David Neustadt

Deputy Commissioner

Department of Social Services

NYN Media responds: As a point of clarification, the “incorrect information” mentioned above was provided by Dr. Benjamin Charvat, the DHS deputy commissioner in charge of the HOPE Count, and Nicole Cueto, the press secretary for the agency. In a joint interview, conducted just weeks before the count, both stressed that the annual count measures “chronic street homeless.”

In addition, DSS states that the HOPE Count does not actually ask the questions needed to determine if a person fits the definition of “chronically homeless.” Yet our research shows DHS has previously reported precise figures for an “unsheltered count of chronically homeless individuals” to the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development. 

NYN Media’s reporting on the HOPE count methodology can be found here.