Estimating the Number of Homeless Veterans: An Approach from the AHAR Larry Buron July 14, 2015 Abt Associates | pg 2 Overview What is the AHAR? Where Do the Data Come From? How Are the Data Collected? At What Geographic Level Are Data Collected? Advantages and Shortcomings with the Data Estimates of Sheltered Homeless Veterans Profile of Sheltered Homeless Veterans Abt Associates | pg 3 What is the AHAR? The A NNUAL H OMELESS A SSESSMENT R EPORT (or AHAR) is a report to the U.S. Congress on the extent and nature of homelessness in America. Provides one-time and one-year estimates of people who use the shelter system. It is released in two parts: Part I uses the most recent Point-in-Time counts. Part II uses HMIS data from the past 12- months. Separate estimates of veterans experiencing homelessness began in 2009 Abt Associates | pg 4 Where Do the Data Come From? (HMIS): Homeless Management Information Systems: electronic, administrative databases operated at the local level and used primarily for case management purposes. Participation among homeless service providers in HMIS can vary across Continuums of Care (CoC), but is typically above 75 percent. Contains standardized data in accordance with federal HMIS Data Standards, allowing for apples-to- apples comparisons throughout the U.S. Abt Associates | pg 5 How Are the Data Collected? Data are submitted in SIX HOUSEHOLD - PROJECT TYPE REPORTING CATEGORIES : ES-FAM (i.e., families in emergency shelters) ES-IND TH-FAM TH-IND PSH-FAM PSH-IND Aggregate data are submitted in prescribed reporting tables via an online web portal. Data are reviewed thoroughly for quality, with hundreds of built- in data-quality checks and a team of 25+ data collectors. Abt Associates | pg 6 At What Geographic Level Are Data Collected? Data are collected from two types of geographies: 1.S AMPLE SITES : these are Community Development Block Grant jurisdictions, which are the building blocks of CoCs. 2.C ONTRIBUTING COMMUNITIES : these can be either entire CoCs, or the balance of a CoC once the sample site(s) are removed. 102 sample sites. 396 CoCs submitted useable data to the 2014 AHAR. Abt Associates | pg 7 How Are Data Adjusted? Two levels of statistical adjustments: W ITHIN SAMPLE SITES / CONTRIBUTING COMMUNITIES : because some homeless service providers do not participate in HMIS, we extrapolate within the site to produce a full enumeration. N ATIONAL WEIGHTING : to produce the national estimate of homelessness, we weight the data accordingly based on the inventory of beds within16 strata (4 CDBG-type by 4 Census regions) for each reporting category. Separate estimates are produced for total homeless population and subpopulations (e.g., individuals, persons in families, and veterans). Abt Associates | pg 8 Advantages and Shortcomings Advantages: One-year estimates provides a LONG - TERM UNDERSTANDING of shelter use. R ICH SET OF DATA to understand demographic characteristics and service-use patterns. Estimates are based on a very THOROUGH DATA - CLEANING process. Shortcomings: Estimates do not account for people who NEVER USE A SHELTER project during a 12-month period. D OMESTIC VIOLENCE providers are prohibited from participating in HMIS in accordance with VAWA. Difficult to produce estimates at SMALLER GEOGRAPHIC LEVELS. Abt Associates | pg 9 Estimates of Sheltered Homeless Veterans 149,635 Veterans used shelter in 2009 139,857 Veterans used shelter in 2013 6.5% decrease since 2009 1.3% increase from 2012 to 2013 Abt Associates | pg 10 Profile of Sheltered Homeless Veterans 98% alone 91% male 43% age 50% white, non-Hispanic 54% have a disability 76% live in a city 50% were already homeless Spends 20 nights in shelter Larry Buron, PhD Principle Associate Claudia Solari, PhD AHAR Project Director