STAR-ADVERTISER / 2023
Volunteers speak to David Mueller, right, along River Street during the 2023 Point in Time Count, a federally mandated census on homeless.
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No excuses, the complete homeless count must get done.
Skipping the unsheltered homeless count undermines a comprehensive understanding of homelessness, jeopardizes funding and resource allocation, and misses a critical opportunity for outreach and engagement with our most notable marginalized population.
Although the Point in Time (PIT) count is conducted by volunteers, and skipping unsheltered homeless reduces administrative burden, ignoring this cohort is not an effective way to address the needs of individuals who have the highest utilization and cost of emergency services, and a life expectancy that is 30 years shorter than the state average.
Policymakers and the public need to know the trends, so let’s stop making excuses and get this done next year.
Gerald Busch
Waikiki
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