2008 Cambridge Homeless Census Update

Contact:  Fred Berman, Department of Human Service Programs (617) 349-6209

On the last night of January, 2008, the Cities of Cambridge and Somerville conducted their ninth annual census of homeless persons.  The count of sheltered and transitionally housed persons was completed by City staff.  The survey of unsheltered men and women was accomplished by seven teams that followed a series of prescribed routes through the two cities during the pre-dawn hours.  The teams, composed of a mix of homeless program staff and volunteers, were led primarily by street outreach workers from CASPAR’s First Step program, with radio and emergency backup from Professional Ambulance and Cambridge Multi-Service Center staff.

The combined program and street census counted 487 homeless persons in Cambridge (an increase of 10% from the counts in 2006 and 2007; a portion of that increase reflects the creation of a new transitional housing program serving 10 families who were previously staying in metro-area shelters).   

Included in the count were 31 families in shelters, 15 families in transitional housing for domestic violence victims, and, five homeless families temporarily placed by the State in local motels.

Also counted were 298 sheltered and transitionally housed homeless individuals (up from 290 in 2007), 2 homeless inpatients in Cambridge Health Alliance facilities, and 60 persons staying on the streets, in cars, in wooded areas, and in other “unsheltered” locations (up from 54 in 2007).

According to Fred Berman, a Planner with the Cambridge Department of Human Service Programs, and one of the two Census Coordinators, the increases in the numbers of homeless families vs. individuals should be viewed through somewhat different lenses.

"The increased count of homeless families reflects a statewide trend," said Mr. Berman.  "In the absence of space in family shelters, the State's Department of Transitional Assistance has had to resort to placing homeless families from the metropolitan area in motels.    One third of the increase in the count of homeless families is due to the DTA's ability to negotiate competitive rates at Cambridge motels -- and not because of any change in the circumstances of Cambridge families.  Two-thirds of the increase in the count of homeless families reflects the creation of a new transitional housing program serving 10 families who were previously staying in metropolitan area shelters. "

"Common sense -- and local and national studies -- tell us that it would be cheaper to help families retain their housing, instead of placing them in shelters or motels once they've lost their housing.    Many of us are hopeful that the State will act on the recommendations of its Legislative Commission on Ending Homelessness to give communities the tools we need to help prevent family homelessness, so we can put this disturbing trend behind us." 

Berman suggested that the 3% increase in sheltered and transitionally housed individuals represents fuller utilization of program capacities this year, and not necessarily any increase in the numbers of homeless individuals in Cambridge.

More troubling is the increase in street homelessness.  According to Meghan Goughan, director of CASPAR’s First Step Street Outreach Program, and the other Census Coordinator, the unsheltered population includes a mix of long-time clients and persons new to the streets of Cambridge who, generally speaking, "share a willingness to accept 'low-threshold' assistance, but refuse participation in more structured services, and typically resist offers of shelter."

Although progress comes slowly, persistent outreach to this population does make a difference, according to Ms. Goughan, even if that progress is obscured by the overall numbers.    "First Step staff save lives -- by getting food and blankets to people when that is all they will accept, by helping them get off the streets when temperatures become extreme and life-threatening, by helping clients access detoxification or medical care when they are finally ready, and, in a smaller number of cases, by supporting clients who have found the inner strength to pursue sobriety and re-entry into the mainstream."  

"A few chronically homeless individuals -- some of whom seemed like they would never leave the street -- have even been placed in permanent supported housing, with the help of recent HUD grants.   Unfortunately, as this year's increase in the unsheltered population sadly suggests, we just don't have the resources to implement a 'Housing First' approach on the scale that is needed, and so, there always seem to be new people to take the places of long-time clients who have been housed, or accepted treatment, or moved on, or, tragically, died (as was the case with 170 homeless Massachusetts men and women in 2007)." 

Assistant City Manager Ellen Semonoff, whose Human Services Department provides planning and technical support for the Cambridge Continuum of homeless services, and oversees the annual distribution of some $3.1 million in federal resources (of which about $2.5 million is for transitional and permanent housing), noted that a one-night point-in-time count of homelessness only offers a rough indication of changes in the magnitude of a problem like homelessness. 

"Given the uncertainties introduced by the weather, changing knowledge about where homeless people are sleeping, and night-to-night differences in local enforcement, a snapshot survey is, at best, only a flawed tool for measuring the local magnitude of this regional and national problem.   In the meantime, homelessness remains a sad reflection of our society’s inability to take care of its most vulnerable members."

"With the help of State and federal funding," Ms. Semonoff noted, "the City and our non-profit and faith-based partners have done an outstanding job in helping at-risk individuals and families avoid homelessness, and in supporting already-homeless individuals and families in transitioning back to stable housing.    But we are barely keeping pace.   If our nation is really serious about ending homelessness, we will need to build a stronger, broader-based, and better-funded partnership that can address both the causes, as well as the more visible end results, of this problem.”