Los Angeles Hires Homeless to Count Street Dwellers
Sandy Evans and Marie William prowled the streets of Hollywood late last Thursday night, picking their way down ominous alleys, scanning vacant lots and -- after more than an hour on the beat -- growing increasingly frustrated. Despite telltale clues such as grocery carts loaded with tattered blankets, clothing and umbrellas, the women hadn't located what they had been hired to find.
"We haven't seen any homeless people," said Ms. Evans, 55 years old. "This is terrible!"
Ms. Evans and Ms. William were participating in an unusual census: the first homeless head count in Los Angeles. A county agency hired them because they are uniquely qualified to be enumerators -- they have been homeless themselves and many still are.
Los Angeles and other cities have a lot at stake in finding as many people living on the street as possible. Competing for nearly $1.5 billion in federal funding to care for homeless people, dozens of U.S. cities last week hit the pavement to count their street dwellers.
In the past, most municipalities normally extrapolated the number of their homeless from those who showed up at shelters, soup kitchens or medical clinics. Now, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is requiring an actual count before local homeless agencies can qualify for federal grants. In the current year, HUD is allocating $55.6 million to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, second only to New York's $73.2 million. Asked about recruiting homeless people to do the count, HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan says: "We don't prescribe methodology. We want statistically valid [data]."
Counting the homeless is a challenge, given the elusive nature of vagrant life and the security risks of tracking them down. So Los Angeles turned to insiders -- the homeless themselves. The county arranged for Applied Survey Research, a nonprofit group, to train homeless census takers and conduct the three-night operation, which ended in the wee hours of Friday. Atlanta and San Jose and Palo Alto, Calif., have also hired homeless people as enumerators.
Others, of course, did not. San Francisco, which counted its homeless on Jan. 25, enlisted about 250 volunteers for the effort, including public workers and activists for the homeless population. "I don't know what benefit using homeless people would bring," says Trent Rhorer, executive director of the San Francisco Human Services.
"A homeless person knows the vacant buildings...and parked cars where the homeless rest," says Peter Connery, vice president of ASR, which charged the county agency $311,000 for carrying out the survey. Mr. Connery first used the technique in Monterey, Calif., six years ago. "You can't accurately enumerate the homeless without their help," he says.
Still, it was a controversial decision. Some experts doubted that people with a history of mental illness, substance abuse and joblessness, such as those in the Hollywood squad, could be trusted to accurately tally their brethren. "I wanted to make sure this wasn't just the politically correct thing to do," says Mitchell Netburn, executive director of the Los Angeles homeless agency, who was swayed by ASR's previous results.
Lured by posters promising up to $50, some 1,200 homeless people turned up for two-hour training sessions throughout Los Angeles. Last Thursday night, 200 trained people showed up on Skid Row in downtown Los Angeles for 40 canvassing spots. At a homeless shelter in the Hollywood district, more than 100 trainees reported for duty -- about 30 more than were needed there. Those who were turned away received $20 for having gone through training.
The homeless even had a role in supervising the operation. Regional Hollywood organizer Jeffrey Peninger, a tall, blond 39-year-old who has been homeless since he was 13, offered final instructions to the attentive listeners, many of whom were so pleased to be working that they dressed up for the occasion. Pungent cologne wafted across the rows of plastic chairs. Like Mr. Peninger, a former amphetamine and intravenous drug user who is studying to be a nurse, many of those in attendance aren't currently street dwellers. They live in transitional housing.
"Remember, this is not about putting yourself in danger," cautioned Mr. Peninger. The pollsters were reminded not to interview their subjects. Unlike a regular census, the homeless survey is nocturnal, aiming to find people asleep, in order to maximize the count and minimize trouble. Instead of information about race, religion and education, the "L.A. County Homeless Street Count" forms have categories such as "number of cars with sleeping occupants" and "number of undetermined gender," for those covered by blankets.
After Hollywood councilman Eric Garcetti gave the census takers a pep talk, each pair of canvassers got a clipboard with a map of their territory, a tally sheet and a flashlight. Then they fanned out.
Ms. Evans and Ms. William were dropped off from a government-agency van at a grungy Hollywood corner near an on-ramp leading to the 101 Freeway, one of the city's primary highways. Despite the mild winter weather, not a soul was to be found where hard-core homeless normally spend their nights.
"I've seen hundreds of homeless people here," Ms. Evans told her partner, when they passed a lot next to Los Angeles Community College. After spotting four unattended shopping carts, the women suspected that police had conducted a sweep of the area. "Homeless people don't abandon their carts," said Ms. Evans, a small woman with short strawberry-blond hair, who looks professorial behind reading glasses held together with tape. "The cart is all they have in the whole world." A police spokesman denied that there had been any roundup of homeless people.
Ms. Evans, who has bipolar disorder, says she became homeless five months ago after mental distress forced her to leave her job as a waitress at Jerry's Famous Deli, a renowned Beverly Hills restaurant. She lived in a stairwell for three months, showering and eating at a homeless walk-in facility before securing a place in a shelter.
Overdrawn on her checking account, Ms. Evans welcomed the chance to make $50 as a census taker. She conscientiously traced on a map each street her team had passed and studied it often to be sure they hadn't overlooked a single alley. She retraced her steps to take another look whenever she thought she might have missed something.
Ms. William, an African-American, was reluctant to talk about herself beyond saying: "I never in a million years imagined I would be homeless at the age of 63." That was over two years ago. Sporting a green outfit and brand-new sneakers -- bought that morning for $3.29 at a thrift shop -- she didn't quite fit the image of a homeless person. "You find exquisite outfits at Goodwill," says Ms. William, who was also wearing eye makeup for the excursion.
The neatly dressed pair looked odd in their surroundings. At the end of a menacingly dark street next to a highway, they spotted four vans -- one covered with graffiti -- that appeared to have people inside. Sheets lined the dashboards and windows. But Ms. Evans didn't get too close, or "they'll blow our heads off," she said. Then she made four ticks in the "car with sleeping occupants" category on the tally sheet.
More than halfway through their three-mile route, they made their first live sighting: two homeless men moving down opposite sides of a busy road. One meandered in an intoxicated state. The other pushed a cart. Ms. Evans made two checks in the "individual male" category. Shortly after, the pair spotted a figure curled up next to a shopping cart in front of a smog-inspection center. Because the person was bundled in a black blanket, Ms. Evans placed a check in the "undetermined gender" box.
As they walked and watched, the women chatted about spiraling housing costs, the high price of medicine and their children. "One day, I want to invest in property to help the homeless and senior citizens," Ms. William said.
Close to 1 a.m., the pair saw a frail, disheveled man barely able to push a cart overflowing with paraphernalia. "He looks like he's on his last leg," Ms. Evans said. All told, they tallied 10 homeless people in three hours.
Returning to census headquarters in a van, Ms. Evans and Ms. William compared results with two other teams. Jeron Parker and Larry Simons, homeless men in their twenties, tallied 16 individuals, two inhabited vehicles and one makeshift encampment. Another team, composed of Charles Mac, in his 50s, and Marie Alvarez, 36, counted 18 individuals.
Total results won't be known for two months, but Mr. Connery, the director of the nonprofit group heading the census, is thrilled. The exercise went smoothly, and given soaring housing costs and job layoffs, he's confident the survey will show a jump over Los Angeles's decade-old homeless estimate of 84,000.
洛杉矶普查流浪人口有奇招
最近一个周四的深夜，桑迪?埃文斯(Sandy Evans)和玛丽?威廉(Marie William)在好莱坞的街道上巡视，在昏暗的小巷里摸索，一小块空地都不放过。然而，她们搜罗了一个多小时还是一无所获，心情倒是越来越沮丧。尽管发现了不少线索--如塞满破毯子、衣服和雨伞的杂物车，但两位女士还是没找到她们受雇要寻找的目标。
“我们连一个无家可归的人都没发现，” 55岁埃文斯说，“糟糕透了！”
埃文斯和威廉参加的是一个不同寻常的普查项目：洛杉矶首次无家可归人员普查。一个地方管理机构聘请这些人来做这件事，因为他们实在是再合适不过的人选--他们自己也曾经是流浪汉，很多人现在还是。
洛杉矶和其他一些城市正在统计出流浪人口，越多越好，因为意义重大。为了争夺联邦政府给无家可归者的将近15亿美元的资助，最近美国有数十个城市都在清点街头流浪者的数目。
过去，大部分的市政当局一般根据收容所、贫民救济处或医疗救助站的人数来推断无家可归者的数目。现在不同了，美国住房和城市发展部(the Department of Housing and Urban Development, 简称：HUD)要求各城市提供确切的数字，然后才能决定当地的流浪者管理机构是否有资格获得联邦政府的拨款。HUD在本年度拨给洛杉矶流浪者服务局(Homeless Services Authority)5,560万美元，仅次于纽约的7,320万美元。在被问及聘请本身就是流浪者的人员来做统计工作这个做法时，HUD发言人布赖恩?沙利文(Brian Sullivan)说：“我们不指定统计方法，我们只要求得到有效的统计数字。”
统计流浪者的工作可是个挑战，因为这些人的生活总是漂泊不定、难以捉摸，另外搜寻他们的下落有一定的安全风险。所以洛杉矶找“局内人”来帮忙--那些本身就无家可归的人。政府安排了非营利机构Applied Survey Research(ASR)来培训这些无家可归的普查人员，并负责此项为期3个晚上的普查行动，普查到周五凌晨结束。亚特兰大、圣何塞(San Jose)和帕洛阿尔托(Palo Alto)也聘请流浪者作普查员。
当然，其他一些城市就不这样做。旧金山市在1月25日统计流浪人口数目，当局招募了250名志愿者，包括社工、维护流浪人群利益的活动人士。“我不知道请流浪者来做这项工作能带来什么好处，”旧金山公共服务部(the San Francisco Human Services)执行总监特伦特?罗勒(Trent Rhorer)说。
“流浪汉最了解那些空置的楼房...和停著的小汽车，这些都是无家可归者经常留宿的地方，”ASR副总裁彼得?康纳里(Peter Connery)说。ASR承担这项调查，从政府机构那里收取31.1万美元的费用。康纳里6年前在加州的蒙特里(Monterey)第一次使用这个方法。“没有这些人的帮助，你不可能准确地调查出无家可归者的数量。”
但这仍然是个有诸多争议的策略。有些专家质疑这些有精神病历史、滥用药物、无正当职业的人--就像在好莱坞地区执行普查任务的那些人--是否值得信赖、能准确地统计出自己同胞的数目。“我那时想确信这样做不仅在政策上是可行的，”洛杉矶流浪者管理机构的执行主管米切尔?内特贝恩(Mitchell Netburn)说。然而内特贝恩被ASR先前的调查结果说服了。
洛杉矶当局贴出海报，承诺报酬高达50美元，受此吸引，整个洛杉矶约有1,200个无家可归者前来报名接受2小时的培训。最近一个周四的晚上，200名接受了培训的调查员出现在洛杉矶市中心的贫民区，搜寻40个普查点。在好莱坞区的无家者收容所，有100多个接受了培训的人申请参加普查--比需要的多出约30人，而那些未被雇佣参与调查的人因为参加了全程的培训，可以领到20美元的报酬。
有些无家人员甚至在普查过程中担任起了管理者的角色。好莱坞地区组织者杰佛瑞?佩宁格(Jeffrey Peninger)是个高个子、金头发的39岁男士，13岁开始一直过著无家可归的生活，他给那些专心致志听讲的普查员做最后的讲解。听众当中有不少人非常高兴有这个工作机会，特意打扮了一番来参加。一股刺鼻的古龙香水味在几排塑胶椅的上空弥漫。佩宁格过去曾是滥用安非他明、静脉注射毒品的瘾君子，现在正在学习护士课程。参加的人中有很多跟他一样不再露宿街头，而是住在过度住所里。
“要记住，不要置身于危险之中，”佩宁格提醒道。普查员的人被提醒不能去采访调查对象。流浪人口调查跟常规普查不同，它是要在夜间、乘被调查人睡著时进行，这样能尽可能地多统计到流浪人口，同时把麻烦降到最低。在名为“洛杉矶地区无家可归人员普查”(L.A. County Homeless Street Count)的表格上没有常规调查中的种族、宗教、教育程度等栏目，相反，它有一些特别的内容，例如：“流浪者睡觉占用的小汽车的数目”、“性别无法确认者的数目”。
好莱坞的市议会议员埃里克?加塞蒂(Eric Garcetti)给普查员做了一番鼓舞士气的讲话后，调查员两人一组，领取一份笔记板（上面有他们负责地区的地图）、调查表和一个手电筒，然后分头行动。
政府机构派出的专车把埃文斯和威廉两人放在好莱坞区一个邋遢的街拐角处，这里靠近一个斜坡，通向101高速(洛杉矶一条主要的高速公路)。这里常常是流浪汉过夜的场所，然而这个冬天的夜晚尽管天气很温和，但一个流浪汉的影子也没看见。
“我在这里看见过几百个流浪汉，”埃文斯经过洛杉矶社区学院(Los Angeles Community College)旁边一块空地时跟同伴说。她们发现了4辆没有主人的手推车，于是她们怀疑之前警察是不是已经清理过这个地区。“无家可归的人是不会丢掉他们的手推车的，”埃文斯说。她是个小个子女人，短发，戴一副用胶带粘好的眼镜，显得很有学者气。“手推车是他们在世界上的全部财产。”而警方发言人否认驱逐过流浪者。
埃文斯有躁狂抑郁症，她说是5个月前开始无家可归的。她原来在贝弗利山(Beverly Hills)一家叫Jerry's Famous Deli的著名餐厅当服务员，因为精神病而被迫离职。她曾经一个楼梯间里住了3个月，在专供流浪汉使用的便利设施里洗澡和吃饭，后来在一个收容所里找到一个稳当的地方。
埃文斯早已用光了存折里的钱，她很高兴当普查员，挣50美元。她们小组每经过一条街道，她都要很负责地在地图上找出来，反复检查，确保不漏掉任何一条小巷。每当感觉可能错过了点什么，她就沿来路返回，重新检查一遍。
威廉是个美国黑人，她不愿意谈论自己，只是说：“我做梦都没想过会在63岁的时候无家可归。”她是2年前沦落到这个处境的。她穿一套绿衣服，脚穿新运动鞋--那天早上在旧货店花3.29美元买的，她不太像一个无家可归的人。“你可以在Goodwill买到些精致的东西，”威廉说。为了这次工作，她还特意上了眼影。
两位衣著整洁的女士显得与周围环境不甚匹配。在高速公路旁边一条黑得吓人的街道尽头，她们发现了4辆有蓬货车，其中一辆被涂得乱七八糟，像是有人在里面。一些被单盖在仪表板和车窗上。埃文斯不敢靠太近，否则“他们会把你打个鼻青脸肿”，她说。接著，她在调查表“流浪者睡觉占用的小汽车”那一栏上打了4个勾。
3英里的路程走了一半多，她们第一次遇到了正在走动的流浪者：两个流浪汉正沿著一条热闹的马路两边走著。其中一个摇摇晃晃的，显然喝醉了；另一个在推一辆手推车。埃文斯在“单身男子”一栏画了两个勾。没过多久，她们又发现有个身影蜷缩在烟雾检测中心前面的一辆手推车旁边。因为那人裹著一条黑色毯子，埃文斯在“性别无法确认”一栏打了个勾。
她们两人走走看看，一边谈论上涨的房价、高昂的医疗费、各自的孩子等等。“将来有一天，我要投资房地产，帮助那些；流浪汉和老人，”威廉说。
接近□晨1点的时候，两人看见一个衣衫不整的男人，虚弱得几乎推不动手里的车，车里满满都是随身生活用品。“他看起来好像就要死了，”埃文斯说。在3个小时里，她们总共发现了10个无家可归者。
回到普查总部--一辆带蓬货车后，埃文斯和威廉跟其他两个小组对比一下结果。杰伦?派克(Jeron Parker)和拉里?西蒙斯(Larry Simons)--两个20多岁的流浪汉--找到16个无家可归者、2辆有人寄宿的车和1个临时宿营所。50多岁的查理斯?马克(Charles Mac)和36岁的玛丽?阿尔瓦雷斯(Marie Alvarez)组成另外一个组，他们发现了18个露宿街头的人。
整个调查结果要两个月以后才公布，不过负责这次普查的非营利组织总监康纳里先生已经按捺不住兴奋。调查进展很顺利。随著房价的飙升和失业人口越来越多，他相信调查结果会显示洛杉矶的无家可归者人数将大大超过84,000人这个10年前的估计数字。
