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Philadelphia Mayor Michael A. Nutter joined City and Federal officials last month to announce the results of Philadelphia's Homeless Outreach (Registry) Week. At the event, officials reaffirmed the city's commitment to house 50 of its most vulnerable homeless people over the next year.

Despite rain and cold temperatures, 250 volunteers took to the streets and parks of Philadelphia this week in the predawn hours to compile a by-name, photo-detailed database of people living on the streets.  Participants in the event surveyed 528 individuals in Philadelphia, identifying more than 51% of them as physically vulnerable and at increased risk of death.  The first individual to be housed through the campaign moved into his new apartment on Wednesday of the same week!

“When I agreed to enroll Philadelphia as a participating community in the 100,000 Homes campaign, I knew that the information we would collect would be invaluable to our efforts to help the homeless in our City,” said Mayor Nutter.  “Philadelphia is part of a national movement to end homelessness, a problem that can only be solved through partnerships across agencies and with strategically invested resources.  The most important thing that we can learn from this week’s survey is that we truly can end homelessness in Philadelphia.” 

The Mayor went on to declare his intention to make Philadelphia the first city in the nation to end homelessness.

Volunteers gathered data using the Campaign Vulnerability Index, which captures data on health status, institutional history (jail, prison, hospital, and military), length of homelessness, patterns of shelter use, and previous housing situations.  In the coming months, the City of Philadelphia, outreach teams, and housing providers will use this data to identify the most vulnerable members of the region’s homeless population and prioritize them for permanent housing-- an approach that saves lives and public dollars.

The Vulnerability Index is based on research by Dr. Jim O'Connell of Harvard University, which shows that certain medical conditions place homeless individuals at much higher risk of death than members of the general population facing identical conditions.

“The collaboration of service providers, businesses, government officials and local volunteers is a huge testament to the willingness of our community to come together to house Philadelphia’s most vulnerable citizens,” said Roberta Cancellier Deputy Director for Policy Planning and Administration in the Philadelphia Office of Supportive Housing.

Volunteers identified 268 homeless individuals in Philadelphia who qualified as vulnerable by this standard. Of these, 44 are veterans, comprising 63% percent of all homeless veterans surveyed.  Among the total surveyed homeless population (528), 15 are more than 65 years of age and 189 (36%) report being the victim of a violent attack since becoming homeless.  Local homeless residents have spent an average of 3.9 years on the street. Among those listed as immediately vulnerable, the ‘on-street’ number jumps to 8.5 years.

“Outreach Week in Philadelphia has been a huge success,” said Marcella Maguire, Philadelphia's Director of Behavioral Health, Homeless Services and Specialized Housing Initiatives, “We’re closing out the week with enormous cause for hope.”

See full details on the results of Philadelphia Outreach Week below:

At-Risk Indicators

Years Homeless

• The average years homeless for the vulnerable population is 8.5 years.
• The average years homeless for the non-vulnerable population is 3.9 years.

Demographic information

• Female 18%; male 81%; transgender less than 1%.
• 67% African-American; 21% white; 5% Latino; 3% multi-racial.
• Average age of the non-vulnerable individuals is 43 years.

Average age of the vulnerable population is 49 years.

• 15 people (3%) were more than 65 years old.
• The oldest respondent was 79 years old.

Service Needs (Total Surveyed)

• 246 people (47%) reported a dual diagnosis of mental illness and substance abuse.
• 430 people (81%) reported a history of substance abuse.
• 283 people (54%) reported signs or symptoms of mental illness.
• 116 or (22%) report suffering from a brain injury.

Veterans (Total surveyed)

• 70 persons (13%) surveyed were Veterans.
• 44 of the Veterans met criteria for “Vulnerable” (16%).
• 33 of the vulnerable veterans were honorably discharged.

Youth & Foster Care (Total surveyed)

• 95 people (18%) respondents report having a history of foster care.
• 18 respondents were under 25 years old (3%).
• The youngest respondent was 19 years old.
• 12 respondents under the age of 25 have increased mortality risks specific to that age group.

(Youth risk factors are HIV/AIDS, drink alcohol everyday for past 30 days, injection drug use.)

Health savings for frequent users of health services

• Research has shown an $18,000 annual savings for homeless people who receive housing and primary care.
• In Philadelphia, this would result in annual savings of $3,150,000.

Emergency Room Visits (Total surveyed)

• A total of 1,057 ER visits were reported by all respondents in the last 3 months for an annual cost of $1,265 (2008 costs) for a cost of at least $1.3 million.
• Inpatient and ER costs combined total over $X annually for X people.

Health System Impacts (Total surveyed)

• 165 people (31%) report having no insurance.
• The most frequently used hospital is Hahnemann.

Violence

• 189 people (36%) report being a victim of a violent attack since becoming homeless.

Length of time homeless

• Non-vulnerable is 3.9 years
• Vulnerable:  8.5 years
• 134 individuals reported being homeless longer than 10 years.
• The longest reported length of homelessness was over 50 years.
• 412 people (78%) were chronically homeless