Improving Homeless Shelter Operations with Case Management Software

Homeless shelters play a critical role in providing essential services to those in need. However, managing these operations can be challenging, especially when dealing with limited resources and high demand. That's where homeless shelter management software comes into play.

Homeless Baby Boomers

Social workers have traditionally considered the homeless and the elderly separate constituents.  However, Dennis P. Culhane, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and one of the country’s leading authorities on homelessness, predicts that in the next 10 years, the number of elderly people experiencing homelessness in the United States will nearly triple, as the final wave of baby boomers ages out.

While other major American cities continue to see their homeless populations grow relentlessly, over the past dozen years Houston has driven down its homeless population by 64%, including a 17% reduction just last year. There used to be 8,500 people on the streets on any given night, but now Houston’s homeless population stands at 3,200, with all but 1,200 of them in shelters. What has changed? What did Houston do differently to solve a homeless problem that plagued the city for thirty years? What can other great cities across the country learn from the Houston response model?

Youth and young adults rarely come to mind when we think of homelessness. Caseworkers working full time with the country's homeless population tell us that homelessness among young people is largely out of sight.

Youth homelessness looks different because it is fluid and hidden. A recent national study found homelessness in 1 out of 30 youth aged 13 to 17 and 1 out of 10 young adults aged 18 to 25. Youth homelessness often remains in the shadows because it may involve couch hopping with friends by a young person who goes from household to household without a choice and is subject to dismissal or exploitation. Young people experiencing homelessness include parents with young children, youth met with rejection after disclosing their sexual orientation or gender identity, and youth who ran away from a foster home or “aged out” of foster care.

One does not have to experience homelessness to understand that it presses hard; the energy and will required to attend to basic survival does not leave much room for vocation, education, or aspiration. It is no wonder that young people experiencing homelessness are less likely to graduate from high school, attend college, and succeed in higher education.

Embarking on the journey of addressing homelessness requires a holistic and compassionate approach, and at the heart of this effort lies the critical role of homeless case management. In this exploration, we delve into the nuanced strategies and methodologies that underpin effective care for individuals experiencing homelessness.    

On the Monday morning of Thanksgiving week this correspondent paid a visit to the parking lot of St. Mary’s food bank in Phoenix, Arizona. St. Mary's had reported that food banks across the nation were overrun this year by the unfortunate who lack the funds to join in the celebration feast shared by millions of American families. We wanted to gage this year’s turnout and gain some insight into which demographics were moved to reach out of their need and desperately try to assemble a festive meal for their family.

A judge had given the city of Phoenix a deadline to clean up the city’s largest homeless encampment known as The Zone. Judge Scott Blaney said the city had until Nov. 4 to get rid of all the tents, “makeshift structures,” and debris near the Human Services Campus around 12th Avenue and Jefferson Street in downtown Phoenix.

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed by business owners in the area.

Judge Blaney also said the city wouldn’t have done anything if it weren’t for the lawsuit and the injunction, forcing the cleanups. “City witnesses admitted at trial that the reason that they are now closing the streets to additional camping is because of the existence of the Preliminary Injunction.”

Whenever this blog shines a spotlight on how many Americans go hungry every day, our readers respond with surprise and skepticism. Most Americans live in a cultural environment that looks away from poverty, and even the impoverished themselves tend to hide their unfortunate circumstances. In America, it’s noble to inhabit the working class but undignified to struggle feeding your family.  Although most of our readers are in the social services profession, even they seem unaware of the depth and breadth of our marginalized population where hunger is still a prominent issue. They consider ads with a picture of a sad-looking child on billboards, the internet, and television saying, "No school means no school lunch. Donate now [to] Feeding America," a cry for help from a select few.

Hunger

As we reported earlier this year, few Americans know that hunger has become a serious social problem in the U. S. We tend to think of countries in drought plagued Africa or the war-torn Middle East as places where children suffer malnutrition and die of starvation. However, food insecurity and nutritional depravation continue to haunt Americans in urban pockets of poverty and remote rural regions across our country.

The latest government statistics report that approximately one in five adults reported experiencing household food insecurity at the end of 2022. High food price inflation, along with elevated costs for other basic needs, such as transportation and rent, have likely eroded food budgets in the last year, and some of the safety net responses that buffered food insecurity in 2021 are no longer in place. In addition, 35% (229 million tons) of all food produced in the U.S. every year goes unsold or uneaten and is thrown away while nearly 42 million Americans – one in eight – struggle with hunger.

In our last report on hunger in America we highlighted the role of nonprofits and social service agencies in the battle against food depravation. This week we would like to shine a light on one “for-profit” company that is making an amazing contribution to the fight against hunger in America.

Fueled by a long-running housing shortage, rising rent prices, and the economic hangover from the pandemic, the overall number of homeless in a federal government report to be released in coming months is expected to be higher than the 580,000 unhoused before the coronavirus outbreak.