What It Takes to Count America’s Homeless Population
To address homelessness, you need to know its scope. To do that, it takes social workers, sheriffs, volunteers, flashlights and 10 days in January.
The Economist explains
How do you count the homeless?
It partly depends on the definition of homelessness. Britain has two categories: "rough sleeper", meaning someone who sleeps on the streets; and "statutory homelessness" for people who are in temporary accommodation or otherwise at risk of losing the roof over their head. America, Ireland and Sweden use the same two categories under different names. But no international standard exists. Italy has no exact definition. Norway combines the two groups. In New Zealand and France anyone without habitable accommodation is considered homeless.
The best way to count rough sleepers is to go and find them. Los Angeles and New York recruit volunteers to comb the streets. In New York this happens every year; in Los Angeles every two years. London is particularly good at keeping track. Every day charity workers try to find the city’s homeless. Some ride the night buses. To avoid double counting, the outreach workers take homeless people's names, waking them up to do so if necessary. Lack of English, use of drink and drugs and suspicion of the authorities all make it harder to get this information. Finding those in precarious or uninhabitable accommodation is more difficult still, as Britain keeps a record only of those who apply to the government for help. There is likely to be a considerable number of so-called "hidden homeless", people living in squats or temporarily staying with friends or family. For these couch-surfers no reliable estimates exist. Outside London, the counting of rough sleepers is patchy.
The European Union attempted to introduce a standardised method of counting the homeless as part of a census in 2011. Only Poland followed the guidelines, counting both those sleeping rough and those in temporary accommodation. Going to find rough sleepers is expensive and time-consuming so most governments simply don’t bother. Paris has not kept a record since the mid 2000s. While snapshot counts like that of Los Angeles provide only a limited amount of information, the length of time people spend on the streets is critical. Even with surveys like London’s it is inevitable that some people are being missed. But things are getting better: part of the reason for the dramatic increase in the number of rough sleepers in London is that more people are going out to find the homeless than ever before.
Weiner to Seek Treatment and a Leave
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ and THOMAS KAPLAN
Representative Anthony D. Weiner said he would request a leave of absence from the House and seek treatment, after Democratic leaders called on him to resign.
focus (sth) on/upon sb/sth
Lenovo is replacing American CEO Amelio with Chairman Yang and bringing back co-founder Liu to head the board, putting the struggling personal computer maker firmly back in the hands of Chinese executives.
call for
- To appear, as on someone else's premises, in order to get: My chauffeur will call for you at seven.
- To be an appropriate occasion for: This news calls for champagne.
- To require; demand: work that calls for patience.
- To evoke; elicit: a love song that calls forth sad memories.
- To take out of circulation: calling in silver dollars.
- To summon for assistance or consultation: call in a specialist.
- To communicate with another by telephone: Has the boss called in today?
- To cancel or postpone: call off a trip; called the trip off.
- To restrain or recall: Call off your dogs.
- To order or request to undertake a particular activity: called on our friends to help.
call on [upon] ...[call on [upon] ...]
(2) 〈人に〉(…を)頼む, (…するよう)求める, 訴える((for ..., to do)call out
- To cause to assemble; summon: call out the guard.
- To challenge to a duel.
- To summon to active military service: called up reserve troops for active duty.
- To cause one to remember; bring to mind: stories that call up old times.
- To bring forth for action or discussion; raise.
- To order; require: I call upon you to tell the truth.
- To make a demand or a series of demands on: Social institutions are now being called upon to provide assistance to the homeless.
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