Section II – Overview
Purpose
This report is an attempt to further the understanding of homelessness in the state of South Carolina; to provide estimates on the extent of homelessness as well as information on various sub-populations of the homeless population; and to inform planning at the state and local level including for agencies and organizations that serve people who are homeless. Finally, the report will also be used to raise public awareness about the important issue of homelessness in our state. Using information from the Homeless Count (conducted between January 25 and February 14th in 2007) as well as other sources, the report explores this complex issue.
Background
Every two years, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires housing and service providers who participate in the Continuum of Care Homeless Assistance Program to complete a point in time count of the people who are homeless in their community. The count must be conducted during the last two weeks of January. Providers must report the number of homeless people who are sheltered and those who are unsheltered. They must also distinguish between homeless individuals and people who are in families (adults and children).
However, many providers and researchers believe that HUD's definition is not broad enough to fully capture the homeless population. To better understand those individuals in our state who are homeless, many believe that it is also important to include people who are precariously or inadequately housed, paying too much for housing or otherwise at risk of losing their housing. Proposed legislation to reauthorize the McKinney-Vento Act (through which federal homeless programs are funded) would expand the definition of homelessness to include "doubled up" populations.
Given the episodic and unpredictable nature of homelessness, no single methodology can provide a precise count. Therefore it is essential to consider multiple sources of information about the issue in order to inform our understanding of homelessness in South Carolina. Therefore, this report does not offer an exact count of individuals who are homeless – instead it provides multiple estimates. In addition, this report offers information on some of the sub-populations of people who are homeless.
Major Stakeholders
While there are numerous stakeholders on the subject of homelessness including a number of providers both at the federal, state, and local levels – major stakeholders include the South Carolina Council on Homelessness, the State Homeless Coalition and the Local Continua of Care.
The South Carolina Council on Homelessness, formed in 2003, is an interagency council whose goal is to integrate and improve services for people who are homeless. The council is comprised of key leadership agencies (see Appendix A) that provide services and funding to homeless individuals, programs or organizations. The mission of the council is to provide the leadership and cooperation necessary for an integrated approach to addressing the comprehensive needs of homeless individuals and families. For more information, please see its website at www.schomeless.org.
The South Carolina State Homeless Coalition is an advocacy group of service providers and policymakers representing the five Homeless Continua of Care. These five continua of care represent all 46 counties in the state of South Carolina (see Appendix B for a list of the counties in each continuum and a map of the continuum by county). The local continua are the coordinating bodies for the yearly Continuum of Care application to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).