The Department of Homeless Services announced the results of the 2011 Homeless Outreach Population (HOPE) Survey showing an overall 40 percent reduction citywide since the first survey was conducted in 2005.
According to the results of the survey, Queens saw a nine percent reduction in the number of homeless street people since last year. There were 112 unsheltered people that were reported in 2010; this year there was only 102. Since the beginning of the survey in 2005, there has been a 70 percent reduction in Queens or 233 people that have found shelter.
“Through partnership with a citywide network of providers we are moving in the right direction for street homelessness,” said Homeless Services Commissioner Seth Diamond. “Our outreach teams perform challenging jobs every day and this validates their efforts. We can only continue to work harder from here to bring even more individuals off the streets into housing.”
HOPE’s survey this year took place on a Code Blue night which refers to when temperatures drop to a certain threshold combining winds and/or precipitation. During these codes, 79 this past winter, Homeless Services doubles the number of personnel and outreach vans to reach vulnerable individuals and encourage them to come indoors. Homeless individuals can find shelter at Common Ground’s Jamaica Safe Haven’s location in Queens.
Over 2,600 chronically homeless individuals have been housed since 2007 across the boroughs with those individuals each averaging seven years lived on the streets. In the last four years, Homeless Services has developed more than 800 low-threshold beds across the city and 95 percent of individuals placed into housing by street outreach teams since 2007 remain in housing today.
