Who utilizes homeless services in Hawaii?

A new report, Homeless Service Utilization Report: Hawaii 2006, provides a snapshot

University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa
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Posted: Nov 13, 2006

HONOLULU—The Center on the Family at the University of Hawaiʻi at Mānoa, in collaboration with the Homeless Programs Branch of the Hawaiʻi Public Housing Authority (HPHA), today released the Homeless Service Utilization Report: Hawaiʻi 2006. Authored by Michael Ullman, Marika Ripke, Sylvia Yuen, and Sarah Yuan, this report provides state- and county-level data about the demographic characteristics of individuals, families, and households who accessed homeless support services during the 2005 fiscal year from agencies that enter data in the Homeless Management and Information System (HMIS). Information from both Shelter Stipend Programs (i.e., emergency and transitional shelter services) and Outreach Programs (i.e., mobile street outreach and drop-in centers) are included in the report. Seventeen providers, representing 35 programs, provided the data used.

Some highlights of the report:

· More males than females accessed homeless services.
· Military veterans accounted for slightly over 10 percent of all adults who received homeless services.
· Approximately 80 percent of adults reported having at least a high school diploma or GED, including about 7 percent who earned a college degree or more.
· Children ages 17 years and younger constituted nearly one-third of the persons served by Shelter Stipend Programs and one-fifth of those served by Outreach Programs.
· Over a quarter of the adults who received Shelter Stipend Program services reported being employed, while 14 percent of adults served by Outreach Programs were employed.

"The use of HMIS data will help us to understand and plan programs to better deal with the growing homeless problem," says Sandra Miyoshi, Director of the Homeless Division, Hawaii Public Housing Authority. "So much of the homeless problem is invisible—unless you‘re personally involved. It‘s important to have the information available to a variety of audiences in a compact, easily accessible format. That‘s the first step to getting things done." For those working to combat the problem of homelessness on a daily basis, this report will be welcome for the easy accessibility of its important statistics. Among those unfamiliar with the issue, the data will provide significant insights and perhaps dispel a few myths.

The HMSA Foundation, Kids Count: The Annie E. Casey Foundation, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development provided the funding that made the report possible. Copies of the report are available from the Center on the Family, located at 2515 Campus Road, Miller Hall 103, at UH-Mānoa., or online at uhfamily.hawaii.edu/publications/brochures/HomelessServiceUtilization2006.pdf.

For more information, visit: http://uhfamily.hawaii.edu/publications/brochures/HomelessServiceUtilization2006.pdf