Many cities across California this year announced sharp increases in homelessness. Yet data from San Francisco suggest the real picture might be a lot worse.For years, city governments have measured homelessness by sending out volunteers on a single night to count, as best they could, the number of homeless people they found on the streets or in shelters. By this method San Francisco this year reported 8,011 homeless people, a 17% increase over 2017, the last time a count was conducted.But San Francisco has another, arguably more comprehensive, way of measuring homelessness, and the results are even more alarming.Over the course of a full year, the city counted twice as many homeless people -- 17,595 people, a 30% jump from the previous year.The data, which are rarely cited in debates on homelessness, come from a city database of homeless people who receive health care and other services from the city.The latest data are from the 2019 fiscal year, which ended in June. If people sought services multiple times during the course of the year they are counted only once.The 30% jump was by far the largest increase of the past eight years, according to the city's data. Rachael Kagan, the spokeswoman for the city's Department of Public Health, said this is partly because in the 2019 fiscal year the city conducted an assessment "blitz," proactively seeking out homeless people at shelters and hospitals.For around 1,272 people, it was the first time they were entered into the city's databases.There is no perfect way to measure homelessness, which by nature is transient. Kagan believes the higher numbers are the "most complete picture that we have" of homelessness. But she said it is still likely to be an underestimate."It does not include people who did not seek services, so it is still an incomplete picture," she said.This article originally appeared in The New York Times.(C) 2019 The New York Times Company
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