Note: I think the poll is not working as intended. You can't choose several answers simultaneously. If you like to answer those questions, do so in the comment and indicate the question's number or just answer that question, which is the most important to you. Thanks.
Next Wednesday I am scheduled to participate in the "Point-in-Time" census of people, who spend their nights on the streets or in shelters or warming areas in Washington DC . For this reason I had to go through a (pretty short) training session.
As I have never engaged before in activities with persons who are chronically homeless, this training allowed me to become a little bit more familiar with the format of the survey, how we were supposed to introduce ourselves and which questions we were to ask.
We were roughly 150 volunteers in my training session. Around 1/3 had done the count in previous years, the rest was new. Altogether they organized four such sessions. They expect around 300 volunteers to spread out over Washington DC on Wednesday night.
We were asked to exercise the "introduction" with the persons sitting to our sides. I admit I got nervous. My spoken English doesn't come out naturally, it happens that I don't find the right word in the right moment or start a sentence and end up stumbling along. I explained that to a very nice young lady, who had done the survey twice in Baltimore and I forced myself to introduce myself and start with the first questions.
And then ... I realized WHAT I was supposed to ask a person I approach. Mind you I don't know yet at that moment if the person is homeless or not. I still have to find out but have to hit them with a bunch of much more intrusive questions.
The "much more" part startled me quite a bit, when I had a first glance over my survey questionnaire sheet and I wondered how (in the world) can I do THAT. It slowly sank in, why I had to exactly ask these questions and not others.
Follow me.
The survey starts out to ask for the name. We were assured that we could take whatever the person would like to give us, and we should accept if they refuse to answer at all. Nick names were okay, we are in addition to take in a general physical description.
The next question asks for the gender... and here I opened my puzzled eyes wide open and would have scratched my head if I had been alone. The question for the gender is divided in five options: Female, Male, Transgendered (Male to Female), Transgendered (Female to Male), Refused.
I was astonished about the details they wanted to know and so I imagined myself in the middle of the night, standing in icy cold wind at 15° F, possibly with flashlights, searching for a bundle of a person under tarps and blankets, may be under overhang of some stairs to a church or in the nooks of store entrances, trying to wake that person up gently and then ask (I am exaggerating and joking now): "Heh, you, what are you, male, female, transgender male to female or transgender female to male?" In my mind I envisioned a person answering:"Heh, how do I look to you?" Sigh, I am nervous.
Somehow I can't see myself doing that. So I searched for other wording. The trainer suggested to ask: How would you identify yourself with regards to gender? We were assured that we never should insist on the question, if the person doesn't want to give the information. But on the other hand they said that this question concerning the transgender identification is for them very important and really helps those who designed the census.
Then there are three other questions, which I imagine hard to ask and to answer.
"Are you a survivor of domestic violence?"
Answer options: Yes, No, Don't Know, Refused.
"What would you say is the primary reason that you are homeless?"
"Are you living with any medical or disabling conditions?" Among the options were for example "Developmental", "Mental Health Condition", "Drug or Alcohol Addiction" and "HIV or AIDS"
I was wondering how a person, who is mentally disturbed, can answer that question with some accuracy and honesty, as the mental condition would probably not allow for a valid characterization of mental health status.
Why would a person admit to drug addiction for an official survey? Who would like to admit that they had to flee from their previous home, because a partner had physically so abused him/her that she/he had to leave? I sort of was puzzled.
I imagine that I only would share those questions with a "buddy" and not with a stranger, who is an official surveyor. I also believe that when it comes to gender identity and sexual orientation and issues surrounding their identity being at least partly cause for their homelessness, that those persons would feel more comfortable to share their "issues" with persons who they feel attracted to naturally. Would you feel the same way?
The trainer said that more people than not are willing to share such information. Some even want to exhale and vent. And if they are not, he said, we should just retreat, but try to get as much as we can before we go on.
Apparently the survey format had drawn some criticism as Paul Schliesmann reports in this article:
A nighttime survey of Kingston’s homeless people planned for later this month has drawn criticism from HIV/AIDS Regional Services.
The agency is concerned that volunteers confronting homeless people for the Point in Time Homeless Count could touch off unnecessary conflicts.
“How many people are going to be criminalized that night?” asked Deb Kinder, the women’s community development co-ordinator at the agency.
Kinder has heard that volunteers will be instructed to call police if there are problems.
Volunteers will walk in teams of two and three through urban areas of the city, introducing themselves to everyone they meet.
People who identify themselves as being homeless will be asked additional questions for the survey.
The city’s housing director, Sheldon Laidman, said city police have been made aware of the survey, but the consulting company leading the exercise has not experienced problems in other communities.
“I’ve received a number of emails outlining concerns about how the city may structure the survey,” said housing director Sheldon Laidman.
“We’re very conscious of the sensitivity of surveying this population of people. There will be training provided to all the volunteers.”
The description in this article matches the set-up for our Point-In-Time survey.
Jenny Scanlon, FNP, Colorado Coalition for the Homeless says in this article "Transgender Health and Homelessness":
Among the most marginalized of homeless people are those whose gender identity
transgresses cultural norms. “Transgender individuals experience homelessness for all of the same reasons that other people do — lack of affordable housing, mental health and addiction problems, physical abuse, and estrangement from families.
But their social isolation and stigmatization are disproportionately high. They often end up on the street as a direct result of job or housing discrimination, with fewer legal protections than other sexual minorities have. As many as 60% have been
victims of harassment or violence, and 37% have experienced economic discrimination.
So, it is no wonder that the survey wants an account of how many among the homeless persons identify as transgender.
If the survey results lead to specific and helpful actions that address special conditions and situations of the transgender homeless group, I don't know, but it looks as if there is some movement in that direction going on here in Washington DC.
Laura Porter wrote in the Student Newspaper of George Washington University, the GW Hatchet, just two weeks ago that the LGBT homeless youth bill gains momentum in D.C. Council:
The bill, co-introduced by Council member and GW Law School professor Mary Cheh, would require all homeless youth shelters in D.C. to provide beds specifically for LGBT youth, and put more money into services.
Devin Ward, Cheh’s spokesman, said the bill will help young residents “bounce back” from homelessness by requiring shelters to engage with the LGBTQ community.
The bill would mandate a census count every five years to determine the number of the city’s homeless LGBT youth.
“Currently we don’t know how many homeless LGBTQ youth are in the District,” Ward said, “which is one of the reasons why this bill is so important.”
The District now has one housing program dedicated to solely that population. The Wanda Alston House, located in Northeast D.C., provides services and housing for LGBT homeless youth ages 16 to 24.
So, what do you think, do we need to know the gender identity of a homeless person? And tell me, how would you ask the question and how would you answer it?
PS: Some definitions for those who need them"
Sex: a biological label ascribed at birth on the basis of genitalia - male, female, intersexed.
Gender: appearance and behaviors based on socially constructed concepts of masculine and feminine that vary from culture to culture and among individuals within a given culture.
Transgender: gender variance or blurring of cultural gender norms; individuals who feel a “disconnect” between the sex they were assigned at birth and their psychological gender identity.
FTM (female-to-male): born with female genitalia but see themselves as partly to fully masculine.
MTF (male-to-female): born with male genitalia but see themselves as partly to fully feminine.
Gender dysphoria: a clinical term for unhappiness or discomfort experienced by individuals whose external sex characteristics do not match their internal gender identity.
Transsexual: individuals who feel a need to change their external sex characteristics through hormones and/or surgery to match their internal gender identity.
Sexual orientation: the sex to which one is erotically attracted – opposite (hetero), same (homo), both (bi), none (a)
Oh, and now it comes to my mind that we actually could take a "Point-in-Time" survey of Kossacks, who are or have been homeless.