Statistics Show Homelessness on the Rise

Jamaica Observer

Thursday, January 14, 2016

 

THERE has been a 26 per cent jump in the number of homeless persons across the island between 2012 and March 2015, but only 181 of those persons are on the poor relief roll, while there are others who are not captured in the Government survey of those who have nowhere to call home.

 

According to statistics dated March 2015, the Board of Supervision (BoS) in the Poor Relief Department recorded 1,418 homeless people, up from the 1,057 who were captured in its point in time survey that was done between November 18 and 24 in 2012.

 

The figures were revealed and discussed at length at the year’s first sitting of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC) at Gordon House, where representatives of the Ministry of Local Government returned to give further insight into the problem of homelessness on the island.

 

The majority of the homeless are in Kingston and St Andrew (762), followed by St James with 200, and Clarendon with 77. The BOS recorded 57 homeless persons in St Ann; 49 in St Catherine; 41 in St Elizabeth; 38 in Manchester; 23 in Portland; 22 in Westmoreland; 16 in St Mary; 15 in Hanover, and nine in Trelawney. Homeless males account for 83 per cent of those surveyed.

 

Government member Fitz Jackson argued that the percentage increase should not be overemphasized as the data should be thoroughly massaged before jumping to conclusions, to which opposition member Audley Shaw retorted that “you could massage it all you want,” but the statistics speak for themselves.

 

Speaking with the Jamaica Observer later, PAAC Chairman Edmund Bartlett pointed out that the BoS is supposed to be the “guardian of social fallout” and that “something is wrong if the numbers keep rising”. He said the rate of fallout within the social protection system is at crisis proportion and that the figures from the poor relief agency are evidence that people are falling through the cracks.

 

“It is clear the social safety net is missing more and more of those people. What it is pointing to is the increasing pauperization of our people, increasing incidence of hopelessness…people have given up on life because they can’t make their ends meet,” he reasoned, noting too that the increase also speaks to how the society treats people who have failed or made mistakes. Bartlett expressed concern, too, over the high proportion of males to females, noting that this told a story of its own about how men respond to the pressures of life and the economy.

 

According to the BOS, a person is considered homeless if they live in places not meant for human habitation such as cars, parks, sidewalks, and abandoned buildings; an emergency shelter; transitional and supportive homes for homeless persons who originally came from the streets or emergency shelters; or are in any of those places for up to 30 consecutive days.

 

An individual is also deemed homeless if they are living in a hospital or in any other institution; has been evicted within a week from where they lived; or has been discharged within a week from an institution, such as a mental health or substance abuse treatment facility, or a prison.

 

Permanent secretary in the local government ministry, Denzil Thorpe — who moved in at regular intervals to intervene on behalf of BoS head Barrington Parsons — explained that the agency is under-funded and resourced, and that development partners are willing to help, but not before the department is reorganized. He said, also, that a homelessness policy is still in the works.

The statistics reflect only individuals about whom the Poor Relief Department is aware and not the total number of street people within parishes.