Nashville's homeless count is likely wrong due to a counting system that is not reliable.
According to Metro Homelessness Commission director Judith Tackett, every January, in the last 10 days, a point in time count takes place across the city. What that means is city and shelter staff visually count all of the homeless people on the streets and in the shelter to get this number: 2,300. That's the number to be used in Metro the whole year.
"It's just a snapshot and it doesn't tell you really what the full picture is," said Tackett. According to her, the count only goes over people who are experiencing literal homelessness. Not people who are living with relatives, or who have other living situations than being out in the elements.
There's a plan to start a list, not only identifying all of Metro's homeless population, but to identify each individual's needs to help serve them better.
"We have limited resources and we need to prioritize who needs the most help," Tackett said. "Traditionally, communities have served people who walk through their doors at any given provider and [they] try to help as many people as [they] can."
Tackett said giving everyone the same treatment can be harmful to the homeless. She said while some people will only need housing to get back on their feet, there are more vulnerable people in the homeless population.
"Some people will not need additional support. Some people will need a case manager to check in with them every week to see if they're connected to healthcare, if they're taking their medicine. That works with them on employment opportunities, just things like that. Other people just need a low income affordable housing opportunity," she said.
Tackett said she hopes to start gathering details about homeless veterans first, and wants to have a system of data collection for homeless people on the books by January 2018.
