Lack of data on COVID-19 in homeless communities

More from this show

Since the start of the pandemic, a big worry has been on the effect it would have on the homeless. ASU’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism looks at the federal response and lack of data regarding COVID-19’s impact on the homeless. Host Ted Simons speaks with two student journalists and the Executive Director of the Howard Center about the problem. The idea of the invisible population because of how homeless people are treated. Without a pandemic, people barely notice them, and then with a pandemic, they’ve become even more invisible.

In order to communicate with the homeless, burner phones were distributed across the country. As the Howard Center collected data, they realized that there’s not enough data on how the homeless population is being affected. Tracking data is difficult especially when there’s no way to collect the number of outbreaks. Different counties are responding in different ways on how to address the issue. Some are creating task forces and some are really slow on reacting. The main problem is there is no collective resolution to the issue.

Maud Beelman, Executive Director of the Howard Center
Katie Surma and Molly Bohannon, student journalists

Illustration of columns of a capitol building with text reading: Arizona PBS AZ Votes 2024
April 2

Arizona PBS to present candidate debates as part of ‘AZ Votes 2024’

A photo journalist walking a destroyed city
airs April 2

Frontline: 20 Days in Mariupol

A woman working on a project in an art studio
airs March 29

Violet Protest

The
aired March 25

Pulitzer on the Road: Small Town Shakedown

Subscribe to Arizona PBS Newsletters

STAY in touch
with azpbs.org!

Subscribe to Arizona PBS Newsletters: