Results of Philadelphia’s Homeless Outreach Week survey

Posted by on May 30, 2011

Mayor Nutter announces results of city’s homeless outreach survey

Mayor Nutter has announced the results of Philadelphia’s Homeless Outreach Week survey.

Two hundred fifty volunteers took to the streets and parks of Philadelphia during the week of May 16th to compile a by-name, photo-detailed database of people living on the streets.

Participants in Outreach Week, a local partnership with the national 100,000 Homes Campaign, surveyed 528 individuals in Philadelphia, identifying more than 51% of them as physically vulnerable and at increased risk of death.  The first individual to be housed through the campaign moved into an apartment on last week.

“When I agreed to enroll Philadelphia as a participating community in the 100,000 Homes campaign, I knew that the information we would collect would be invaluable to our efforts to help the homeless in our City,” said Mayor Nutter.  “Philadelphia is part of a national movement to end homelessness, a problem that can only be solved through partnerships across agencies and with strategically invested resources.  The most important thing that we can learn from this week’s survey is that we truly can end homelessness in Philadelphia.”

Volunteers gathered data using the Vulnerability Index, a 34-item questionnaire utilized by the 100,000 Homes Campaign and administered across the nation.  Volunteer teams captured data on health status, institutional history (jail, prison, hospital, and military), length of homelessness, patterns of shelter use, and previous housing situations.  In the coming months, the City of Philadelphia, Outreach teams, and housing providers will use this data to identify the most vulnerable members of the region’s homeless population and prioritize them for permanent housing.  Nationally, this approach saves lives and an average of $30,000 dollars per person in publicly funded services.

The Vulnerability Index is based on research which shows that certain medical conditions place homeless individuals at much higher risk of death than members of the general population facing identical conditions.

“The collaboration of service providers, businesses, government officials and local volunteers is a huge testament to the willingness of our community to come together to house Philadelphia’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Roberta Cancellier, deputy director for policy planning and administration at the City’s Office of Supportive Housing.

Outreach Week identified 268 homeless individuals in Philadelphia who qualified as vulnerable by this standard. Of these, 44 are veterans, comprising 63% percent of all homeless veterans surveyed.  Among the total surveyed homeless population (528), 15 are more than 65 years of age and 189 (36%) report being the victim of a violent attack since becoming homeless.  Local homeless residents have spent an average of 3.9 years on the street. Among those listed as immediately vulnerable, the ‘on-street’ number jumps to 8.5 years.

“Outreach Week in Philadelphia has been a huge success,” said Marcella Maguire, Director, Behavioral Health Homeless Services and Specialized Housing Initiatives, “We’re closing out the week with enormous cause for hope.”

For more information, call Jennifer Crandall at 215-686-6210.