Database issues cloud city homeless numbers

The head of End Homelessness Winnipeg says she has no confidence in data about the city’s homeless population due to problems with the federal system that tracks those numbers.

Jennifer Rattray, the organization’s chief executive officer, told the Free Press Thursday it continues to work with the federal government to resolve problems with the Homeless Individuals and Families Information System, which keeps tabs on people who access homelessness services.

CBC has reported it obtained an internal memo from EHW that shows that as of the end of March, the number of chronically homeless Winnipeggers had fallen to 436 from about 4,400, as a result of efforts to correct the database.

Earlier this year, the organization had reported more than 8,000 people were accessing services.

Rattray said she doesn’t have confidence in any of the figures.

“It’s not a great place to be,” she acknowledged.

Rattray said EHW first noticed anomalies in July and began working with Housing, Infrastructure and Communities Canada to investigate.

The problem dates to a September 2024 update to the database that resulted in files incorrectly remaining active despite individuals having had no contact with service providers for at least 90 days.

At least four corrective scripts have been applied, but the process is unfinished.

“It is much more complex than I had hoped,” Rattray said.

She stressed the 436 figure was captured early in the process of correcting the database and isn’t final.

“I hope, when we get to the end of this data issue process, I hope that’s the number we end up with,” she said. “Because the fewer people who are chronically unsheltered, the better.”

She said EHW’s board decided against publishing the preliminary numbers because the data was known to be unreliable.

Asked why the organization hadn’t disclosed the problem in July, Rattray said staff expected it to be resolved within weeks.

Since September, EHW has directed journalists and researchers to the 2024 Winnipeg Street Census instead. Previous reports, news releases and social media posts regarding the inaccurate data have been scrubbed.

But the problems extend beyond the technical issues.

Rattray acknowledged the database captures only a portion of Winnipeg’s homeless population because not all front-line organizations use it.

In a subsequent update, Rattray confirmed 27 Winnipeg organizations had used the database in the past 30 days, with shelters accounting for the highest usage.

Some of those organizations receive federal funding through the Reaching Home program, while others participate voluntarily.

EHW is working to increase participation by bolstering training, while other organizations are exploring complementary systems, including Mozaics, that could make data collection easier for front-line workers and provide a more accurate picture of the problem.

The database has limitations when it comes to tracking youth, while some shelters have begun moving toward Mozaics, which is considered more user-friendly and better suited to their operational needs.

Marion Willis, executive director of St. Boniface Street Links, said she challenged End Homelessness Winnipeg months ago over its estimate that more than 8,000 people were homeless.

“I was like, no, there’s not (8,000 people experiencing homelessness). And you need to stop doing this,” Willis said.

Willis estimates the homeless population at between 700 and 1,200 people, although she cautioned it is not a formal count.

“The numbers have never been accurate, not since day one. And couldn’t be,” Willis said about the national database.

Street Links was among the first organizations to use it, Willis said, but it’s cumbersome because information must be entered for each client.

“We didn’t always put our numbers into (it),” she said, explaining that keeping records updated could require a full-time employee.

Willis said the database doesn’t capture people who don’t interact with participating service providers, which is a significant gap.

She believes the controversy exposes a larger problem with the federal Reaching Home funding model, arguing it places too much emphasis on homelessness numbers rather than people who have been placed into housing.

“The current funding agreement has always incentivized keeping people homeless,” she said.

Willis argues organizations face pressure to demonstrate the need to maintain funding, rather than being rewarded for reducing homelessness.

Rattray rejected the suggestion that organizations receive funding based on maintaining high homeless figures.

“Reaching Home funding is not based on the number of people who are in a particular shelter or organization at any given time, in any way, shape, or form,” she said.

Instead, funding is awarded to organizations whose proposals demonstrate community needs, with decisions made through a community advisory board, she said.

EHW received just under $22 million in Reaching Home funding, as per its latest annual report, with money directed toward prevention, outreach and housing projects.

Rattray denied funding decisions had been affected by the inaccurate figures, but acknowledged reliable data is essential to demonstrating Winnipeg’s needs to governments.

“We need more resources, and we need to be able to have the data to show funders that the resources are needed,” she said.

The next street census will be held in late November.

scott.billeck@freepress.mb.ca