Covering

Homelessness
Vianna Davila – Reporter, ProPublica-Texas Tribune investigative unit
Former editor and reporter, The Seattle Times’ Project Homeless
vianna.davila@propublica.org @viannadavila
 What to ask first?

• Who oversees homelessness in

my community? 
• What is my Continuum of Care? 
• Who funds homeless programs
in my region?
How many • Homeless Point in Time (PIT) Counts are (usually)
people are conducted annually - but not everywhere
homeless in • PIT count methodology differs place to place
my • PIT counts are only a snapshot of a region’s
homelessness
community?
Who’s counting?
Find out who operates your
CoC’s Homeless Management
Information System (HMIS).
HMIS data will provide a much
better sense of how many
people receive homeless
services in a year.
Ask who manages your
community’s HMIS - how do you
count your data?
Also - HUD doesn’t consider
people who double up homeless
– but the U.S. Department of
Education does. 
 • Who is doing outreach in your community?
• How is the shelter system designed? Are there a few main providers or is
it scattered? Does your community have a tiny house village? A safe
How to find parking program for people in vehicles?

people - • Whom is a shelter or a homeless service provider actually serving? Adults,

chronically homeless adults, youth, LGBTQ youth, women only, families?
Questions to • Where/how are homeless people living? PIT counts can be helpful in this
way.
ask first • Is there a group that monitors homeless deaths in your community or
holds vigils for them?
Homelessness looks different person to person
• Tent encampments are just one, very
visible part of homelessness. 
• Thousands of people across the
country live in vehicles - and often
they weren’t getting access to
homeless services even before COVID-
19. So who is helping them now? 
• The same racial disparities that
happen in any community occur in
homeless populations. 
• The people who know this best are
homeless people themselves – try to
make them a focal point of a story as
much as possible
Questions to ask
• How was my community handling homeless encampments before
COVID-19 and what are they doing now? What were the laws and
written policies? 
• How is my community addressing hygiene services for the homeless
population? Are they opening spaces where homeless people can go
and isolate or quarantine - and then, are homeless people actually
getting into those spaces? 
• What is happening to efforts to get people into housing during the
pandemic?
Terms and
concepts to know
• Trauma, Trauma-informed care
• Harm reduction 
• Low barrier 
• Housing first
• Chronic homelessness
• Coordinated Entry
• I do not use the phrase “THE homeless”
– I say “homeless people” or “people
experiencing homelessness” – bringing it
back to the human side is really
important
Remember

COVID-19 may result in homeless

people becoming more visible. It
doesn’t mean there’s a sudden
increase in homelessness in a
community. It could mean shelters
aren’t taking new clients because they
too are trying to implement social
distancing. So, how is your community
serving this population in a new way?
What is this forcing homeless service
providers to do? But, be mindful, that
this situation could eventually result in
more people becoming homeless.