The Homeless: CT State Government Arithmetic

 CT Insider just published an article called Homelessness in Connecticut increases for third straight year by Alex Putterman.

According to the article, the state uses a January to January of the next year calendar point by which to somehow decide the number of homeless in CT.

"Homelessness in Connecticut has increased for the third straight year, jumping 13 percent from January 2023 to January 2024, the state's annual point-in-time count has revealed."

And the State uses a point-in-time count which implies a singular guesstimate of the number. Of course this all makes no logical sense if the State's intent is to accurately identify and potentially begin to address a social problem.

First, the homeless number and location will ebb and flow with the seasons and, given CT's weather patterns, testing that population in January will likely give you the smallest number of the year. This is a disingenuous and cynical way to disguise the malfeasance of the Democratic monopoly in CT politics.

Nor do we have any idea of how this count is conducted.  Are they sending out an army of social workers attempting to locate the homeless in mid winter? Who are these intrepid souls gum-shoeing the back alleys, underpasses, and outback of the CT woods? We know the answer.  They don't exist. The numbers are rationalized and manufactured in the comfort of work-at-home employees poking at spreadsheets of equally (or should I say equitably) political-comfort-zone-doctored "statistics".

"As of Jan. 23, when the count was conducted, Connecticut recorded 3,410 people experiencing homelessness, up from 3,015 a year prior and the most at a given time since 2016."

It might occur to you that a count "conducted" on Jan. 23 is finally being reported in August. Counting is hard work. If you check the outdoor temperature for that day, it ranged from 34 to 39 degrees so I'm guessing the temperatures in those tents were close to freezing as the (let's pretend the social workers were actually there) State employees made these counts.

If you do the -cough- math, the reported increase is 395 new homeless people 52 of them homeless with children. And 94 new homeless children were 'counted'. The article and, likely, the State doesn't tell us if children and adults are all counted in that 3,410 estimate or if, counting the children, there are actually 4087 homeless human beings living in CT.

I'm not sure these counting exercises mean much at all. Next year they will count them again using fingers and toes, sifting and sorting the counts for months, sending memos, shedding a public tear here and there, and come August next year - viola!, another set of  numbers. Numbers are fun.

"Sarah Fox, CEO of the Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness, said the count "casts light on the challenges that we're having as a state.""

I looked up The Connecticut Coalition to End Homelessness (CCEH) and the entire staff have executive titles.  Likewise their Board of Directors is larger and far more over-credentialed than NASA but nobody ever asks any questions.

It turns out that CCEH *is* the organization responsible for all the counting! Not the State. The State doesn't actually give a shit so I take back all that trash talk about the Democrats after all. Their election time virtue signaling about caring is still intact and quite convincing but to hell with the homeless - CT has a multi-million dollar NGO that approximates the count so that proxy ballots can be printed in their absence.

The upside of saving taxpayers money on empty homeless rhetoric is that, in a town like Mansfield, CT, brand new outdoor pickle ball court construction is nearing completion. Joy!