2nd homeless survey is scheduled today

Sandy Monck says she doesn't just want to know how many people are homeless in Baltimore County.

She wants to know how old they are, if they have children, what help they receive from the government and what programs could help them.

The one-day survey of homeless people -- scheduled for today -- will also ask them what factors contributed to their living situation, how they ended up in Baltimore County, their education and other facts that could help officials better understand how to serve the population, says Monck, the county's homeless services coordinator.

The county has been distributing fliers and advertising the survey at the county's 10 shelters for the homeless and domestic violence victims.

To conduct the count, three makeshift census centers will be operating from noon to 8 p.m. At the centers, homeless people will be given food and McDonald's gift cards, and will be able to talk with people who can connect them to counseling, drug treatment and help with medical and housing needs, Monck says.

The county has also recruited more than 75 volunteers, including several homeless and former homeless people and Baltimore County police officers, to survey the homeless in shopping centers, libraries and other gathering spots.

Those who have been homeless will be especially helpful in the survey, she said. "They have a lot more insight. They can help us identify where homeless are and how to engage them."

Last year's survey found an estimated 2,000 homeless people in Baltimore County, she says. Slightly more than half were men. Nearly 60 percent had children. Of those, 37 percent had children under the age of 5, according to the report.

But judging from new federal data collection systems, the number of homeless in Baltimore County is closer to 5,400, says Stu Hancock, program director of Prologue Homeless Outreach, a countywide nonprofit group.

About 70 percent to 75 percent are families with children, he says. "You're talking about children who don't know where they'll be eating, where they'll be going next," he says.

Based on those coming into the county shelters, Monck said, she thinks there has been an increase in the number of homeless women and children.

Baltimore County has about 400 beds in 10 shelters for the homeless and victims of domestic violence. An 11th shelter is set to open next month at Salem United Methodist Church in the Woodlawn area, she says.

Some surveyors will be at shelters, some at strip malls or other locations, while other surveyors will be at the three census centers established for the second annual count: Young Parent Support Center in Essex, Calvary Baptist Church in Towson, and Morningstar Baptist Church in Catonsville.

The county used a similar process last year, but Monck says that this year there is a better computer database to analyze the surveys and to prevent duplication, better questions and more volunteers to ask them.

Results are expected in early February.

[e-mail]