Homelessness in Los Angeles.

Homelessness in Los Angeles.

-What is the difference between crisis homelessness and chronic homelessness? Why do social workers recognize this difference?

Chronic homeless can be described as people who have a homeless experience of more than one year while undergoing a problem such as mental disorders, drug and substance use disorder, or any physical disorder (Brown et al. 2018). On the other hand, the homeless crisis is a charity home for homeless people in the UK (Mavridis et al. 2018).  A homeless crisis can be solved in several ways, which include housing, integrated health care, through criminal justice reduction, and also fostering educational connections. Social workers recognize this difference since they work closely with the homeless.

-what are the two main philosophies that coordinated entry is run under? Explain in your own words.

The philosophies that coordinated entry was the VI-SPDAT and also honesty. The VI-SPDAT collected information and identified the needs of the homeless. Honesty was also necessary to obtain accurate information concerning the homeless.

The VI-SPDAT.

-What is the purpose of the VI-SPDAT?

The VI-SPDAT initially was created through a combination of elements that were created and implemented by the community solutions generally in the ten thousand home campaign. It examined factors that would cause the vulnerability of the stability of future housing. According to its data, the housing outcomes are better when there are no assessment tools used.

The VI-SPDAT is also used as a triage tool. It highlights the areas with high acuity. This helps in informing the support and also the housing intervention that will provide the highest benefit in improving long-term housing. It also informs the priority or the order in which people are supposed to be served. It makes and also informs decisions. It helps the homeless determine the best course of action by providing data to these communities.

-what kind of data is gathered by the VI-SPDAT survey?

The survey collects the following data;

-the number of times that the homeless have received medical care at an emergency department.  The survey will also ask the number of times that the homeless have used a crisis service, which includes sexual assault crisis, mental crisis, family or intimate violence, and also suicide prevention hotlines.

-The VI-SPDAT will gather information on whether the homeless are exposed to risky behaviours, which include sex, which is exchanged with money, drug dealing for the benefit of someone else. Other risky behaviours are engaging in unprotected sex or sharing of sharp and piecing equipment such as needles.

-The survey will ask whether the homeless person has attempted to harm him/herself in the last year.

-The survey also gathers confidential information. This information includes the full names, immigration, and residency status, where the person can easily be located most of the time, the veteran status, the date of birth, and also the demographic information.

All this information helps to collect the medical history of the respondents. The information also helps in collecting information about the violent history.

-What is the role of the VI-SPDAT in determining what types of assistance are needed by each person experiencing homelessness?

The VI-SPDAT plays an important role in determining the support that is needed by each homeless person. It does this by conducting a survey where it collects statistics of every homeless person. Each homeless will then be served according to the type of need that he or she needs.

-What deterrents might exist that keep people experiencing homelessness from being honest on the VI-SPDAT?

The homeless feared that the information in the VI-SPDAT would become public and accessible by everyone. This condition created fear in them, forcing them to avoid transparency. Houses were issued based on the information on the VI-SPDAT. This made the homeless to create some false information so that they would get a house. Giving the correct information made them feel that they might miss the opportunity of getting a house.

-How many organizations have access to the data gathered by the VI-SPDA?

The VI-SPDAT informs the homeless that four organizations will only share their information. The homeless later discover that 168 different organizations will share their information.

The VI-SPDAT in context.

According to the questions asked in the VI-SPDAT, they sound tricky. I would respond in a less transparent way to a landlord asking these questions. For example, asking whether I have caused harm to someone and respond with a yes might expose you to problems.