Feds Want to Track the Homeless

LOL - you are soooooooo baddddddd

Bum tracking.

The notice said that the government has no plans to develop a national system to register and track the homeless.

Nah...... a nice Regional one will show whether our ideas will work!

See? ---> "The proposed HMIS standards would build large citywide and statewide databases storing the exact location of homeless persons using food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and transitional housing programs -- a huge safety risk for victims of domestic violence using these services," said Southworth.

Braclets for all!!!!!

The notice said that the government has plans to develop a national system to register and track the [fillin blank].

OOps!! How'd THIS get to print!?!?!?!?

i dont know what happend to the article it previewd ok then it cut out half of it when i posted here is the fullarticle

A mandate which will force local agencies that receive federal funds to register and track homeless people has been called too invasive by privacy and community activists.

In an attempt to grasp the scope of the United States' homeless problem, the Department of Housing and Urban Development is requiring local government and nonprofit organizations receiving grants for homeless programs to keep detailed files on their clientele. Data to be tracked ranges from Social Security numbers to HIV statuses to mental health histories.

Local agencies must have the so-called Homeless Management Information Systems, or HMIS, in place by 2004 or risk losing federal funds.

Over the last 15 years, HUD has spent more than $11 billion on homeless assistance, yet the department knows little about the people it helps, including how many there are.

Estimates of the number of homeless Americans range from 600,000 to 3.5 million, according to the National Coalition for the Homeless.

But the exact figure is hard to calculate given the very nature of homelessness. For some people, homelessness is a transitory situation, precipitated by job loss or separation from a violent partner. For others -- especially those struggling with drug addiction or mental illness -- lack of shelter is a chronic problem.

HUD says the mandatory tracking program will help establish an accurate count of the nation's homeless, streamline services and reduce fraud.

Opponents say the HMIS databases will put homeless people's privacy at risk and could be misused by local officials to harass the homeless for political reasons.

Incidents of official harassment of the homeless are well-documented, as are accounts of police abuse of sensitive databases.

In preparation for the 1996 Olympics, for example, Atlanta passed a flurry of ordinances to crack down on homelessness, including a law making it illegal to lie down in a public park or walk through a parking lot if your car wasn't located there. The city gave street people one-way bus tickets out of town and police arrested 9,000 people for breaking loitering and begging laws in the months before the games, according to local homeless advocates.

"Using HMIS, Atlanta officials could have tracked exactly where the homeless were staying and receiving services," said Chris Hoofnagle, deputy counsel for the Electronic Privacy Information Center.

In an analysis of the proposed tracking systems, EPIC urges HUD to extrapolate information from census-like "snapshots" of the homeless population in different areas rather than collecting individuals' personal data.

Donna Friedman, director of the Center for Social Policy at the University of Massachusetts, which is developing many of the local HMIS systems, said that a concerted effort is being made to invest in advanced technology to improve services for the homeless.

"HMIS is being implemented across the country by partnerships of local governments, service providers, advocates, and others who are committed to the best interests of homeless men, women and children," she said. "While any type of data collection poses risks, those risks can be minimized given proper security measures. HUD has included many strong security measures in its guidelines, and we too are responding to HUD to suggest ways to make those measures even stronger.

HUD officials could be reached for comment.

HUD published a notice outlining the proposed HMIS guidelines in the Federal Register in July.

"(Homeless assistance) programs have been in existence for some 15 years and there has never been an overall review or comprehensive analysis on the extent of homelessness or how to address it," the notice states.

"If information about clients is shared across providers, these systems can be used to reduce the number of times that clients are required to complete intake forms and assessments," it says. "They also allow providers to coordinate and track activities and services more effectively within a locality, streamline the referral process, and improve case management for homeless clients."

The notice said that the government has no plans to develop a national system to register and track the homeless.

Nevertheless, homeless advocates said the money that local agencies will need to invest in HMIS technology would be better spent elsewhere.

"What are they trying to figure out, whether someone has a shelter bed on the east side and the west side of town?" asked Chance Martin, editor of the Street Sheet, a newspaper published by the Coalition on Homelessness of San Francisco. "I really don't think there are that many people double dipping for shelter beds. There aren't enough to go around in the first place."

Street Sheet ran an editorial criticizing HUD's proposal.

Martin said the tracking system would discourage illegal immigrants, those suffering from paranoia and homeless people with past criminal records from seeking assistance.

The HMIS databases also would put the safety of women fleeing abusive relationships at risk, said Cindy Southworth, director of technology for the National Network to End Domestic Violence.

According to a Ford Foundation study, 50 percent of homeless women are on the street to escape violent partners.

"The proposed HMIS standards would build large citywide and statewide databases storing the exact location of homeless persons using food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters and transitional housing programs -- a huge safety risk for victims of domestic violence using these services," said Southworth.

They could tag their ears with bar codes.

"Opponents say the HMIS databases will put homeless people's privacy at risk and could be misused by local officials to harass the homeless for political reasons."

One thing we sure don't want to do is invade the privacy of someone who sleeps and urinates on the sidewalk. And why is it that "homeless advocates" always want to keep them on the street, while the nasty mean people want to at least put a roof over their heads?

Don't fall for it:

If tagging and tracking is good enough for the homeless it will become "established practice."

Surely, if you are not a druggie or terrorist, you would not mind letting the government track you, right? Remember, it's for the children.

Wow...I didnt realize there was anyone left who isn't in the data base.

We can't have that. Tag em and bag em!

Practice makes perfect...gotta start somewhere...best to start on those with no voice
and work your way up the ladder