Tracking Every Homeless Person in NYC

Homelessness in New York City has reached an all-time high since the Great Depression. According to the Coalition for the Homeless, an non-profit advocacy organization focused on homelessness in the United States,  there were 61,936 homeless people, including 15,525 homeless families with 23,445 homeless children located in New York City in March 2017.

The Coalition for the Homeless states that the primary cause of homelessness is lack of affordable housing. Events triggering homelessness include eviction, overcrowded housing, domestic violence, loss of job, and hazard housing conditions.

In an effort to combat the spike in homelessness, the city if opening 90 new shelters spread across the city to offer housing and aid. Additionally, the city is implementing StreetSmart, a comprehensive tool, in concert with nearly 400 outreach workers to collect information about their health, income, demographics, and history, among other information, ultimately to view and manage the homeless population on a daily basis.

StreetSmart it able to aid the outreach workers in any moment, featuring an embedded map to determine the location of interactions with the homeless, and able to evaluate the effectiveness of various housing facilities. The tool, essentially, is able to integrate services to keep the homeless population off the streets.

Will This Be Used to Help or Criminalize People?

As stated by the Coalition for the Homeless, a large majority of the homeless in New York Ciry are living with a mental illness. Furthermore, homeless single adults have much higher rates of serious mental illness, addiction disorders, and other severe health problems.

Tracking and tracing the homeless population. This is where this technology begins. Where will it end up?

References

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Basic Facts About Homelessness: New York City - Coalition For The Homeless. (2017). Coalitionforthehomeless.org. Retrieved 12 May 2017, from http://www.coalitionforthehomeless.org/basic-facts-about-homelessness-new-york-city/

Lapowsky, I. (2017). NYC’s New Tech to Track Every Homeless Person in the City. WIRED. Retrieved 12 May 2017, from https://www.wired.com/2017/05/new-york-citys-businesslike-tech-fighting-homelessness/?mbid=nl_5617_p2&CNDID=26934920