Letter Report on the Department of Homeless Services’ Controls Over Its Count of Unsheltered Homeless Youths

Letter Report On The Department Of Homeless Services’ Controls Over Its Count Of Unsheltered Homeless Youths

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

Introduction

This audit’s objective was to determine whether the Department of Homeless Services (“DHS”) had adequate controls to ensure that its count of unsheltered homeless youths was reasonably accurate.  However, the audit was closed because in the course of assessing the controls, the audit found that DHS’s count methodology may have increased the risk of significantly underreporting the number of unsheltered homeless youths.  Thus, there was limited value in an assessment of DHS’s controls over the count.

In 2012, the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (“USICH”), in collaboration with the U.S. Departments of Housing and Urban Development (“HUD”), Health and Human Services (“HHS”), and Education (“ED”), launched Youth Count! (“Youth Count”), an interagency initiative designed to develop strategies for counting unaccompanied homeless youths (both sheltered and unsheltered) up to 24 years of age.  New York City was one of the nine communities asked to participate in the pilot program.

DHS utilizes its Homeless Outreach Population Estimate (“HOPE”) to arrive at the number of unsheltered homeless individuals in the City it reports to HUD.  The 2013 HOPE count was conducted on January 28, 2013.  DHS reported to HUD that an estimated 128 homeless youths in the City were unsheltered on that night.  Homeless advocacy groups have publicly expressed concerns that the count underreported the number of unsheltered homeless youths, estimating that number to be 3,800−significantly higher.

Results

The methodology used by DHS for its count increased the risk of significantly underreporting the number of unsheltered homeless youths.  For the HOPE count, DHS instructed its volunteers to count homeless persons (including youths) who were congregated in public areas, such as sidewalks, parks, and subway stations.  Because DHS does not have the capacity to survey all of these areas, it applies a statistical formula to the actual count results to estimate the number of homeless individuals in the City who are at these locations at that point in time.

In addition to these public areas, there are other popular areas where youths may congregate, including abandoned buildings, shopping malls, laundromats, all-night movie theaters, ATM vestibules, cars, and fast-food restaurants.  Nevertheless, DHS restricts its count to the public areas noted in the paragraph above and does not include in its estimate to HUD the unsheltered youths who may be congregating in other areas. The statistical formula used by DHS to estimate the number of homeless youths does not project or account for those youths who may be residing in non-public areas that are not canvassed on the night of the count.

The letter report recommends that DHS consider modifying its methodology to include more areas known to be locations where unsheltered homeless individuals congregate.  Doing so would allow DHS to obtain a more accurate representation of the number of unsheltered homeless youths in the City and would also help in its efforts to project service needs and allocate resources where the needs are greatest.

DHS disagreed with the letter report’s recommendation that it modify its methodology for counting unsheltered youth.