LOS ANGELES (KABC) — An outdated computer system with faulty data is another factor that could be hindering efforts to get homeless people off the streets, according to a new report by The Associated Press.
Basic information such as whether shelter beds are available is often unavailable, the report said.
In Los Angeles alone, more than 45,000 people are homeless. Many need shelter, but technology shortcomings, including the lack of an online system to track the number of available shelter beds in Los Angeles County, make it even harder to find a place to sleep.
The chief technology officer of Better Angels United, a nonprofit that works to combat homelessness in Los Angeles, described the city's technology as “systems that don't talk to each other, a lack of accurate data, and no one on the same page about what's real and what's not.”
Without a uniform procedure for caseworkers to enter information into a central database, information can be accidentally recorded and lost, especially if it is written down on a notepad or cell phone. The delay between data collection and entry can make that information quickly out of date.
The federal government's main data system, the Homeless Management Information System, was designed as a desktop application, making it difficult to navigate on a mobile phone, which could pose an additional obstacle.
The system Los Angeles County currently uses isn't connected to the federal system, so nonprofits have to re-enter data, making it prone to numerical errors that could mean the difference between sleeping in a shelter or on the streets.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority said work is underway to create a database of 23,000 beds by the end of the year, aiming to improve how it uses technology to address homelessness.
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