Best practices and lessons learned in conducting counts of homeless persons in Calgary, 1992-2008

The research and recommendations are the responsibility of the authors of the report and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Homelessness Partnering Secretariat, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada (HRSDC). [...] Whatever the reason, The City of Calgary’s next count—which is essentially a report on demand data for the night of the count—clearly had to align with the Calgary Homeless Foundation’s newly published information on the supply of beds. [...] As a result, The City of Calgary agreed to pilot test the use of the ETHOS classification system in 2008 as a more detailed way of describing the type of shelter used by homeless people in Calgary.3 ETHOS is the European Typology of Homelessness and Housing Exclusion, which is the standard used by European Union member states to report on homelessness and housing stress (FEANTSA, 2007). [...] The level of detail in the typology was expected to be more useful to facilities that participate in the count and also to provide a way to frame the development of a ‘made in Calgary’ HMIS. [...] The proposal to pilot test the use of the ETHOS classification system as part of the data collected during the 2008 count was embraced by the Interagency Committee serving the absolutely homeless.