Black, Hispanic people remain homeless longer in Lexington. City wants to find out why
Black and Hispanic people are experiencing homelessness longer than white people in Lexington, and Hispanic people are returning to homelessness after being housed at much higher rates than white people, data collected by the city’s homeless system shows.
“We need to know why,” said Polly Ruddick, the director of the city’s Office of Homelessness Prevention and Intervention.
As part of a competitive grant process to get funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, homeless systems analyze data collected from homeless services providers to look for racial disparities.
Lexington examined data from Oct. 1 2018, to Sept. 30, 2020, or two federal fiscal years. The federal fiscal year begins Oct. 1.
The initial data showed:
- Black people are over-represented in the homeless system. Twenty-two percent of Black Fayette County residents live in poverty but they made up 28.2% of all people experiencing homelessness.
- Hispanic people are underrepresented in the data. Just over 5% of Lexington’s Latinx population lives in poverty yet made up only 4.2% of the homeless population during that three-year time period.
- Black and Hispanic people stay homeless longer. In 2019, the average stay in the city’s homeless system for Black people was 75 days. Hispanic people’s average stay was 73 days. White people’s average stay was 57 days. In 2020, the average stay for Black homeless residents was 80 days. Hispanic average stay was 91 days. White average stay was 72 days.
- Those differences grew when participants were asked how long they have been experiencing homelessness. In 2019, Hispanic people reported being homeless 58.3% longer and Black Fayette County residents reported being homeless 40.8% longer than white people.
- Hispanic people are twice as likely to return to homelessness after leaving the system as white people. Roughly 43% of Hispanic residents returned to homelessness compared to 22% of white people.
This is the first time the city has had enough data to do a racial equity analysis. The Office of Homeless Prevention and Intervention was started in 2014. It took time for the city to have good enough data to conduct an equity analysis.
Louisville and the rest of the state — the two other homeless provider systems in Kentucky — saw similar racial disparities, Ruddick said.
“This is something that we are taking very seriously,” she said. “This is data on a macro level. We know we have some data limitations. Is there a better way to collect this data?”
Next steps
The city has hired Cloudburst Consulting Group for $87,385 to do a racial equity analysis and determine what policies need to be changed to address racial disparity. The money will come from the American Rescue Plan Act money, or federal coronavirus relief money.
The study should take a year.
Some of the recommendations could include making sure homeless providers have access to interpreters, Ruddick said: Are Spanish-speaking and other foreign-born populations underrepresented in the city’s homeless system because language is a barrier?
“Do we need more after-care programs to keep people housed?” Ruddick said. “Is there income discrimination in the private market? We want to be very, very intentional about the action steps that come out of this.”
Some of the data collected was from the first six months of the coronavirus pandemic, so the study also will analyze if the pandemic factored into disparities.
Additionally, Cloudburst will look at the data Lexington’s homeless system collects to determine if different information is needed to dig deeper into racial disparities, Ruddick said.
But the city’s homeless service providers are not waiting on Cloudburst’s recommendations.
“A lot of our agencies are already taking steps to look at their own policies to determine if there are barriers,” Ruddick said.
Steps toward inclusion
Officials with the Salvation Army of Lexington, which houses women and children, said they are trying to make sure there are no barriers for anyone to access its services or shelter system.
“Three years ago, we secured a language line service to assist in communication with residents whose first language was not English and ensure they would be able to get the assistance they need in working with our staff,” said Major William Garrett, who oversees the Salvation Army’s operations. “We also actively look for bilingual qualifications in new staff hires when possible.”
Officials with Hope Center, the city’s largest shelter for men, said they are taking similar steps to make sure services are available to all.
“The Hope Center has recently reviewed and updated our policies regarding individuals with limited English proficiency to ensure inclusion and to be able to provide appropriate services,” said David Shadd, director of programs for the Hope Center. “This includes access to a language line for individuals who do not speak English, ‘I Speak’ cards available to help individuals identify their language of choice as well as Spanish-speaking staff who are available to assist with interpretation.”
Shadd said they review the Hope Center’s racial and ethnic demographics regularly.
“We place all of our clients who remain in the shelter for more than a few days, regardless of race or ethnicity, on the coordinated entry list for housing,” Shadd said. “And we also are collaborating with the Office of Homeless Prevention and Intervention to review ways to ensure these populations are being served in our community.”
The coordinated entry list for housing ensures that all people in the city’s homeless system have access to transitional housing or permanent housing.
GreenHouse17, an intimate partner violence shelter that serves Fayette and 16 other counties, has also stepped up its efforts to make sure everyone can get help they need.
“How do we meet people where they are as opposed to people meeting the requirements of our program?” said Darlene Thomas, executive director of GreenHouse17. “We want to be low barrier.”
People who are coming to GreenHouse17 have experienced trauma — some for years.
“You have to give people who have been in trauma and crisis a lot of room,” Thomas said. “When you have lived with trauma you have to re-learn how you want to live. You are going to make mistakes. We don’t exit people for breaking rules.”
Making sure that people remain in the shelter and get services is one way to address inequalities, Thomas said.
GreenHouse17 also tries to make sure people feel included and welcome.
“Some of the things that we do is as simple as signage,” Thomas said. GreenHouse 17 has a rainbow on its door to show it is welcoming to the LBGTQ community. It has information in multiple languages and can make services available for the deaf and hard of hearing. Two staff members speak Spanish. Staff also have language translation applications on their phones. she said.
Thomas applauded Lexington for taking equity in the homeless system seriously. She has seen barriers. It’s much easier for single women to find housing than women with children. Spanish-speaking women have a much, much harder time finding housing when exiting a shelter.
“Shelters are a key part of the system” Thomas said. “But we all know that we need more affordable housing.”
