Counting the homeless: The culture of quantification in American social policy

Cultural Geographies

Volumn 20, Issue 3, 2013, Pages 397-403

  Jocoy, Christine L ^a  

^a CALIFORNIA STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Cultural practice; Homelessness; Quantification; Social policy; US

Indexed keywords

CULTURAL RELATIONS; HOMELESSNESS; SOCIAL POLICY; VOLUNTARY APPROACH;

CALIFORNIA; LONG BEACH [CALIFORNIA]; UNITED STATES;

EID: 84879175520     PISSN: 14744740     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1177/1474474012454999     Document Type: Article

References (25)

1. This definition does not include people doubled up or living in precarious housing situations who are at imminent risk of becoming homeless. A new HUD definition went into effect on January 4 2012, but has not yet been implemented in a biennial count. United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), A Guide to Counting Unsheltered Homeless People. 2nd rev., (2008), p. 5 .
2. M. Poovey, A History of the Modern Fact: Problems of Knowledge in the Sciences of Wealth and Society (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1998).
3. C. J. Bogard, Seasons Such as These: How Homelessness Took Shape in America (New York, NY: Aldine De Gruyter, 2003).
4. J. Neylan, 'Quantifying Social Entities: An Historical-Sociological Critique', Journal of Sociology and Social Welfare, 32, 2005, p. 25.
5. Poovey, A History; articles in Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 19, 2001 special issue
6. especially D. Demeritt, 'Scientific Forest Conservation and the Statistical Picturing of Nature's Limits in the Progressive-era United States', pp. 431-459
7. T. J. Barnes, 'Lives Lived and Lives Told: Biographies of Geography's Quantitative Revolution', pp. 409-429
8. E. Sheppard, 'Quantitative Geography: Representations, Practices, and Possibilities', pp. 535-554.
9. Poovey, A History, p. 9.
10. Text on PowerPoint slide presented during training sessions.
11. M. G. Hannah, 'Sampling and the Politics of Representation in US Census 2000', Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 19, 2001, pp. 515-534, for a discussion of the use of the argument to encourage participation in the US Census that count results boost local social spending.
12. HUD, A Guide, p. 1.
13. Neylan, "Quantifying Social Entities", p. 28.
14. 'Department of Housing and Urban Development. Part IV. HUD's Fiscal Year 2006 Notice of Funding Availability Policy Requirements and General Section to the SuperNOFA for HUD's Discretionary Programs', Federal Register, 71(13), 2006, p. 3396.
15. Even though HUD released an updated definition in 2010, this one was used for the 2011 biennial count in Long Beach.
16. HUD, [Docket No. FR-5415-N-17] Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Program, section 4.d., 2010 .
17. HUD, The 2010 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress, 2011 .
18. HUD, 2010 AHAR, p. 22; 2009 AHAR, p. 13
19. AHAR, p. 13 , 2008.
20. The formula, designed for the Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) program, is based on poverty, housing overcrowding, population, age of housing, and growth lag data.
21. HUD, Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Competition, FY 2011, p. 39-40 .
22. Op. cit., p. 41.
23. This is reflected in the news media reporting on count results in communities throughout the United States
24. HUD, A Guide, p. 7.
25. By way of full disclosure, I have been paid a far, far smaller amount to analyze and report the data for the City of Long Beach.