Abstract:
California has among the highest per capita rate of homelessness in the United States, with more than 181,000 people experiencing homelessness (PEH) nightly – more than 25% of the country’s homeless population and half of its unsheltered population. Much of the literature on PEH draws on data from nonrepresentative samples, limiting (and potentially introducing bias to) inference and our overall understanding of the population. From October 2021 to November 2022, the Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative fielded a statewide survey of PEH in California. The purpose of this survey was to understand the characteristics of PEH, the causes and consequences of homelessness, and to identify potential opportunities to end and prevent homelessness. This seminar will describe our novel sampling strategy to generate a representative sample of PEH in California (drawing upon methods from venue-based sampling and respondent driven sampling), implementation challenges, and lessons learned.
Dr. Paul Wesson is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Wesson’s research focuses on identifying, quantifying, and (ultimately) eliminating drivers of health inequities, with an emphasis on hard-to-reach and socially marginalized populations. Dr. Wesson specializes in methods to sample and estimate the population size of hidden and hard-to-reach populations. His current research activities focus on understanding the causes of disengagement from the HIV continuum of care for people living with HIV who have criminal legal involvement and testing re-engagement strategies.
