“Stand Up and Be Counted”: The Politics of a Homeless Enumeration

Abstract

AbstractThis study analyzes the methodological and political issues associated with homeless enumerations. While enumerations represent just one aspect of homeless politics in the United States, they incorporate many debates that are central to understanding homelessness. How to define homelessness and how to find and account for a transitory, stigmatized population are chief among the quandaries faced by counties undertaking enumerations; the extent of these difficulties calls into question the reliability of enumeration results. In studying one U.S. county's efforts to count the homeless in 2005 and 2009, this paper illuminates the obstacles faced by counties undertaking enumerations, and connects those challenges to broader debates about homelessness and homeless policy making in the United States.