Wolf at door for homeless shelters (won’t share data with city govt)

[flamingyouth]

One of Seattle's largest homeless shelters -- an often-controversial group that provides the city's cheapest emergency bedding -- stands to lose its funding at the end of next month because it refuses to give the government personal data on its clients.

Without the money, Share/Wheel says it will be forced to close its 14 shelters with nearly 300 bunks and the homeless who rely on them would set up three non-sanctioned camps or tent cities in public parks.

"There's a lot of people that are going to be out on the streets -- believe me," said Najib Kouky, a 43-year-old former fisherman who lives in one of Share's bunkhouses.

The City Attorney's Office says the camps would be illegal. Share won't say which parks it is considering.

http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/263895_homeless22.html

[Skip Intro]

1. And this is about feeding and sheltering the less fortunate in our land..

the less fortunate of us...

My GOD - Food and Shelter????

Isn't it disgusting how repukes begrudge the poor and stricken any kind of relief?

Where is the "God" in this?

[Erika]

2. Yep. Godless indeed. The new GOP Mantra

It's all about greed and wealth.

[saigon68]

13. They are looking for people with Warrants

You know not paying fines for shop lifting, public urination and defecation, public intoxication, and warrants for unpaid child support.

They do this so these people then "serve their time in jail" and as the system says get rehabilitated

[EFerrari]

14. It's a multi pronged approach.

We know the Feds like their databases.

The Feds have monies earmarked for the states but also grants that cities can apply for.

That's one.

Two, they are looking for warrants.

Three, if you make it hard enough, people go away -- they die or move on.

There is always a segment in any community that uses #3 because it is the easiest and quickest.

This group in this article sound a lot like the group we try to work with here. They are described in the same negative way in the press, the city pols dislike them because they won't be pushed around very easily, and they seem to be hardline civil rights activists. God bless 'em.

[slampoet]

18. I know what you mean.....

I've been imprisioned Three times in two different states for pleading "Not Guilty" to a ticket of "Driving without a front Liscence plate holder". (The plate was in the front window. The car was manufactured w/o a holder.)

Each time i spent 2 work days and hundreds in fines. All because the court didn't reply to my plea that ought to have been an order to fix.

This took 5 years to resolve.

This is all about greed and not really about real criminal activity. Welcome to Debtors Prision.

Notice too they aren't demanding info from Utah or Colorado or any state criminals flea to. Just Seattle a city where the homeless go when they fear freezing to death.

[applegrove]

3. I'm not sure that keep personal data private is within the best interest

of the people. Governments do have a right to know what programs work and which do not. Homelessness is a horror.

Sometimes - homelessness is causes by actual government programs. I think the government should know when they do something awful policywise and it results in more people in crisis. I think they should have to stare at those numbers. And let the reasons & causes sink in. So they can take responsibility for it. And fund the solutions.

One thing for sure - the people on the front lines do not have the money to build the subsidized and mixed market housing. The people who do have the money need stats to back them up. And they cannot get those stats except from the front line groups.

[flamingyouth]

4. It's hard to say.

Many homeless people are reluctant to share private information, which means they either don't go to shelters, or they go to more unconventional ones like Share/Wheel. I totally understand what you're saying, though. :)

[EFerrari]

5. Give me a fucking break:

"Officials say the federally backed initiative will provide information needed to track and evaluate the effectiveness of taxpayer-funded services -- and even prevent future homelessness."

So, if you're poor, you just give up all your privacy rights?

That's what this amounts to.

Geezus. And given what we know about the VERACITY of our federal government, why would anyone in their right mind trust the promise that this release of information will be used to "end homelessness"?

That's a steaming crock.

Share/Wheel is right. And I'm just amazed that they are standing tall when no one else is.

I'm calling them in the morning. This is bullshit, it's illegal. But, what isn't in Bushworld.

[EFerrari]

6. One last thing before I duct tape my fingers.

I notice flaming HALLIBURTON isn't subject to the same controls.

:eyes:

[northofdenali]

7. "what ye do to the least of ye, ye do to me”

What goes around.......

This is disgusting. I'd never have thought it of Seattle.

[sandnsea]

8. Reading the whole article

it appears to me the group is being unreasonable. Can't get much more anonymous than initials and they can be made up anyway. I think the group is just afraid they're going to lose funding because the city is moving towards a transitional model instead of shelters for the permanently homeless.

"City officials say they are still hoping to find compromise with SHARE. The group rejected the city's most recent offer to collect birthdates, gender and initials instead of name or Social Security number -- because it was not anonymous."

I also find it ironic, what with all the anti-religion rhetoric in this thread, that this group uses church grounds for their tent cities.

[fasttense]

9. I read the whole article too, and they are asking for SS numbers.

Where I'm from, giving your SS number takes away anonymity.

Note this statement: "While the questionnaires will be held confidential, they are not anonymous."

I think the government hopes that the poor are willing to give up their privacy in exchange for someplace to sleep. What happens when one of these homeless people struggle and manage to get out of the homeless situation they are currently in? Are their names and numbers permanently on a database the will prevent them from getting government or other jobs? Some Social Services records pop up during background checks, I wonder if this would?

[Sadie5]

10. They don't share info with us

why do we have to give them anything.

[flamingyouth]

15. That's what gets me especially

Why the SS numbers? If you have a criminal record or *just say you don't feel like sharing that information* you may not go to a shelter for the night.

I think you make an excellent point about the background checks.

As a sidenote, we currently have a Tent City in the parking lot of our church, and this is about the fifth or sixth time they've been with us. They are very well organized and we're always happy to have them.

[AngryOldDem]

20. I work at a homeless shelter -- some information

We do an extensive intake on all new guests, which includes asking for their Social Security numbers. Guests have a right to refuse to provide this information. It does not affect their eligibility to stay at the shelter if they opt not to. This information is kept strictly confidential within the shelter. Only staff are permitted to do intakes (in other words, shelter volunteers cannot). We use these intakes to monitor the numbers of homeless men, women, and children we serve in a given month, as we must report these in order to continue to receive funding. Also, the homeless coalition in the city needs numbers to track trends in the population. This information, moreover, is shared only with other social service providers in the area, such as the daytime shelter and housing programs and job programs. At the time of their intake we ask guests if they want to make an appointment to see a case manager, who uses this information to help clients find homes, jobs, etc. At the end of the intake form there is a paragraph that we read to clients which says that they are giving us permission to use the information "to assist them during their period of homelessness." That, too, is voluntary to sign and will not affect their stay with us if they choose not to sign it. We stress that it IS voluntary. We do not put pressure on them to sign.

We are not in the police business so we do not run background checks on guests or refuse anyone unless they are found to be committing a crime on our property, or have caused serious trouble in the past. usually when someone is asked to leave the shelter it is not permanent -- they can come back after a week, or after their incident is discussed among staff -- but I would daresay that of all the people we serve, a very minscule number have been banned from the shelter permanently. And unfortunately, we have had to trespass a few guests off the property, but that has been because of threatening or otherwise violent behavior that imminently put staff and other guests at risk.

[flamingyouth]

25. I work at one too, but I don't do any intake work

I only hand out food, blankets and toiletries, so I'm not at all familiar with how that process works. Ours is women-only, and as far as I know we've never banned anyone. Most of the women are over 50. Thanks for your post. That's very interesting. :)

[salin]

11. initials with

birthdates and gender. Those three data points make it easy to tag SSNs were this data to be used for anything. So does the data then get shared with the feds through HUD (since it is part of a national push by HUD and cities get "points" towards grants by compiling such data bases?) Given the privatization and selling of databases - even by the govt, I can see why some serving the homeless might have grave concerns about privacy, and about how this data could later be used against those whose identifying information shows up in the data base - along with the other info being collected per employment history, where they stayed/services received (ala how long that they have been homeless), etc.

[Rose Siding]

12. How can a nearly equal amt spent on long term housing

provide help to as many as that same amt spent on emergency services?

Are there any successful models of databases that reduced homelessness?

[flamingyouth]

16. More about this story from the Seattle Weekly

http://seattleweekly.com/news/0612/homeless.php

[HuffleClaw]

17. what a horror

they'll end up in a hooverville in some city park? that ought to really impress folks. compassionate conservatives!

[Fenris]

19. That's fucking sick.

:grr:

[JanMichael]

21. Ok. I know that this will get flamed but I work with agencies like this.

One of the only ways to assist/treat/serve the Chronic Homeless is by identifying who they are and arranging for things like Shelter Plus Care and Housing First plans.

Episodic Homelessness is a different issue that requires helping families and preventing additional lapses into temporary homelessness that is a major detriment to children and families.

On top of that when local government funds any agency like this they have an obligation to know who and what those public funds are being used for.

Are people being given more than just a bug infested bunk? Are they being made to "pray to play"? Are they being used to create a little fiefdom for a clever Pastor or Clergy? Is the city getting screwed along WITH the Homeless? How the hell is government supposed to affect this travesty of Capitalism without information gathered in information systems known as HMIS?

Forget Bush and his stupid assed "10 Year Plan Plan" because this shit has been going on for years before Generalissimo el Busho stole the USA.

Blah blah blah...I know, I know, I'm a bad Socialist now.

[flamingyouth]

22. Actually, the 10-year plan isn't Bush's

It's the city's & county's (in conjunction with some religious and charitable organizations). It seems that there's a whole lot to this story that we don't know (there usually is) and that both sides are totally entrenched in their positions.

My biggest problem, to be honest, is with the social security numbers. The rest of it I can understand, but that I don't get.

[JanMichael]

23. I don't get the SS number fear.

Most any apartment you rent, house you buy, credit card you apply for, doctor you see, car you buy from a dealer, etcetera, requires this number.

If, if, they are used to run randon criminal checks then I absolutely oppose the request but if not I don't.

Actually my biggest beef is with credit checks on people that are down enough on their finances to qualify for HOME and/or Tax Credit affordable (Those properties with rent limits and subsidies) housing.

That in my opinion is really fucking those that need affordable housing to prevent an episode of homelessness. Or worse yet for job applications, that's the ugliest practice of all that keeps people having to go to charlatan homeless shelters run by lunatic fundies.

[flamingyouth]

24. There are a lot of factors at work here

Mental illness, criminal records, previous domestic violence situations, etc., can all contribute to homelessness and a general distrust of "the system," I think. Like I said before, I don't think I know all of the facts here. Both sides seem to contradict each other, so I don't really know what they're doing with the info. I can't imagine they'd be running criminal checks on people (or at least I'd hope not...)

This is a link from the committee's website on homelessness in King County:
http://www.cehkc.org/hikc-scope.shtml

The problem is so out of control, I think a lot of well-meaning people are trying to do their level best to get a handle on it. It started to snowball during the '80s under Reagan and has gotten so much worse under this asshole.