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Localities
Local strategies for ending family homelessness vary with the needs and circumstances of local populations, but are also largely determined by a state's governmental organization. Without unified shelter intake systems, homeless families seeking services have to navigate distinct resource networks in cities and counties throughout the country. Accurately portraying the family homeless system in the United States therefore requires flexible and geographically informed methods that consider local translations of government funding and initiatives.
The Institute for Children and Poverty tailored each state's profile according to its demographics and infrastructure. For states with low population densities, expansive statewide systems for serving homeless families, or negligible regional variations in services available for the homeless, research was conducted on a statewide scale, with a focus on one or two large cities. For states that have large geographic variations in opportunities for homeless families, ICP conducted a more nuanced site selection.
To select the specific localities within states to profile in the National Survey of Programs and Services for Homeless Families, ICP ranked the cities or counties receiving the largest Continuum of Care (CoC) and Emergency Shelter Grant (ESG) awards. ICP then chose the top three to five grantees in each state for inclusion in the project. Since CoC grants are awarded according to community response to homelessness and ESG grants are awarded based upon the estimated size of the homeless population seeking shelter, factoring receipt of both grants into site selection allowed ICP to identify places that are both very well organized to serve homeless families and have high concentrations of impoverished families. Whether a state's cities or counties were profiled varies according to the state's infrastructure of local government and services. ICP profiled a total of 112 localities covering all 50 states for the National Survey. |
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