surveys for homeless / service providers

well i am doing a 16 week course for the QUT in brisbane on homelessness, and we have to research as much as we can on the local service providers and such... :confused: at this stage we are just starting to research the surveys we will write, and i wanted to gain as much information as possible, so i can do the right job. LOL i'm not used to being on the other side of a survey, so i think i'll need as much help as i can get :D if you know of any sites i can check out, please post them here PLEASE??? :o

what does the survey have to entail???

have you been given a guide on what questions / information you are required to get

no, that's the problem, we are told to "open up to the possibilities and probe and prod and come to our own conclusion. i just basically wanted to know if there were any people who access this site who have done anything similar and could offer some assistance/advice. i am currently having problems trying to FIND the questions to ask, because they have to match up with the database, and have to be easy to read and to respond to by the people surveyed. it's a really big challenge for me!

no i havent done surveys on homelessness so not sure if i could be much help

sorry

There was a homeless count in Brisbane in September 1999 and in September 2004? The report which detailed the survey method and content and findings was published in a report by Angie Dunbavan titled: 'Welcome to Brisneyland' Life for homeless young people in inner urban Brisbane.

BYS would have a copy, there would also be one in the Drug Arm library - if they still have that. Or ask about other reports published around the homeless count. BYS has a lot of other things they could show you on surveys also.

You could also look at the report on move-on powers in Brisbane: http://forums.homeless.org.au/showpost.php?p=11572&postcount=34

Those are both big projects, if you want a small one to do design one for an existing service to survey their clients on one aspect of their service delivery or policies.

Hope this helps.

thanks dom, i actually read some of that report this week. it's a bit long and i didn't find too much in it that could really help, police move on powers don't really fit in to our survey for some stupid reason.. and hey, i appreciate your reply by the way!

:D:D well i am doing a 16 week course for the QUT in brisbane on homelessness, and we have to research as much as we can on the local service providers and such... :confused: at this stage we are just starting to research the surveys we will write, and i wanted to gain as much information as possible, so i can do the right job. LOL i'm not used to being on the other side of a survey, so i think i'll need as much help as i can get :D if you know of any sites i can check out, please post them here PLEASE??? :o

Try the Weingart Center for me it was a transitional residence-
www.weingartfnd.org/ -this is a huge organization and have loads of programs, etc., as you will see.:eek:

and you can also try PATH.org, this I used as an emergency shelter. They have many other services all over.

What other types of info are you looking for? Maybe I can help you with those too?:)

Thank you for your work, I respect what you are doing, seeing as I am doing a project too, for LACC, Social Psychology, about homelessness, Good Luck with your project.:cool:
Kim :D

well i am doing a 16 week course for the QUT in brisbane on homelessness, and we have to research as much as we can on the local service providers and such... :confused: at this stage we are just starting to research the surveys we will write, and i wanted to gain as much information as possible, so i can do the right job. LOL i'm not used to being on the other side of a survey, so i think i'll need as much help as i can get :D if you know of any sites i can check out, please post them here PLEASE??? :o

Firstly DONT go to centres and organisations etc for ideas for questions for your survey.

If your going to do a survey it has to come from a source that hasnt been watered down, manipulated, changed, side stepped, swept under the rug,, it has to be right questions as you say, not wrong ones, ones that matter, not questions that are written originally by financing bodies to qualify for their grants. If you go to the links shown above and look for the answers it will be just another copy of someone looking at a problem through rose coloured glasses... If you want to do a survey that has any substance, and i dont mean counting how many homeless there are,, go to the local bridge live under it for a few weeks without any money , no toiletries, no spare clothes, and you will find the right questions you seek..

Its a chain effect, someone wrote about it years and years ago and it has been rewritten over and over and over, The surveys have no weight, the answers are never there, its the balance that has to be upheld, i dont know why, but we seem to keep the service providers in business, think about it there would be a lot of unemployed social workers etc if there were no homeless people,,

It is therefore quite safe to say that it is the best interest of the Social workers and bodies, that we stay homeless we have to recieve these handouts, resources and food, to keep these selfish misery workers employed

Service providers, St vinnies, Salvos, ETC ETC are the cruellest businesses on earth, by dealing in misery,


I dont mean to sound heavy, the truth is you wont achieve anything with your studies, Homelessness wont get worse, it wont get better either, it is the balance that is needed. its a level of life designed and put there in order to be studied like an ant farm, So they can ummm and aahhh and say things like gee professor that is interesting, lets write that down for future reference, looks like we can do another survey on this one, and maybe we can get an extra $50000 for it.

You said you do it because it interests you , nothing wrong with that,

And for as long as i sleep on the street, youll be able to pay your rent, eat fresh food, drive a car, meet a nice man and have a great life.. To all the Service providers, think about it when you wont give us a meal because we cant afford the $2.50...or a bed cos we havent got $8

So i say to Vinnies and Salvos we pay your F@#$#@ Wages through government grants, and we keep a roof over your head, you evil, pain seeking, god complex, bullying, tight arses.:mad:

Just please make sure you all have a nice warm cosy life, if you dont we are wasting our lives under the bridge

Rob

well rob, i appreciate that you are in that situation, less than 6 months ago i was doing the same thing.... in my opinion homelessness is a choice, and it can be a pretty easy one when you're under duress.. the work that i am doing on this survey, at the end, will be presented to a comittee and something will happen for the good of the homeless! there are steps in place to "cure" homelessness, like it's a disease, but you and i know differently. do not hate me rob, i'm on your team, i just took the choice to step up to the plate, take a swing and change my life... you could make that choice too, i would recommend it, although i was more comfortable sleeping in a sleeping bag in an alleyway, it's good to have something to call your own, that you can decorate, and HOT SHOWERS whenever you want! television and radio, and a refridgerator full of food...

in any case i am trying to do the right thing by my homeless comrades, most of whom i still have regular contact. so if the point you're trying ot make is that i'm detatched, you're dead wrong mate...

well rob, i appreciate that you are in that situation, less than 6 months ago i was doing the same thing.... in my opinion homelessness is a choice, and it can be a pretty easy one when you're under duress.. the work that i am doing on this survey, at the end, will be presented to a comittee and something will happen for the good of the homeless! there are steps in place to "cure" homelessness, like it's a disease, but you and i know differently. do not hate me rob, i'm on your team, i just took the choice to step up to the plate, take a swing and change my life... you could make that choice too, i would recommend it, although i was more comfortable sleeping in a sleeping bag in an alleyway, it's good to have something to call your own, that you can decorate, and HOT SHOWERS whenever you want! television and radio, and a refridgerator full of food...

in any case i am trying to do the right thing by my homeless comrades, most of whom i still have regular contact. so if the point you're trying ot make is that i'm detatched, you're dead wrong mate...

Homelessness a Choice????????????????? pigs bum, i choose not to be in this situation, oh look im still here :mad:

Your Dead wrong

Monday, May 21, 2007

This is for Robbyg,
Hello again people, Robbyg I am so sorry to hear that you are still in your predicament.
I understand EXACTLY how you feel about organizations, as there are so many of them that do make you feel like? What a good word for it?
I am glad too that you brought up the subject of "social workers" "case managers", and all of the rest of the people who are taking a ride, using the money that was meant for the homeless. I know there is a record of how the money is used; it's not a nice thing to read, one of those statistic types of things that I need to know. It says right there in black and white, that there are more workers, than there are "clients". I have also read where the Government has an allotted amount of money to be spent for the homeless, however by the time they shuffle every thing around on their side, whatever money was "leftover", would be allocated to other projects, etc.

I agree that many of these places are very difficult to deal with, their expectations are high. These "workers" take no time to learn about each persons needs, (Since they are all different), everyone has a special need.
What's really tough I found, has to go back to one of the several "programs" that are set up to house the homeless. On the average, like it was for me, I was on a waiting list for 6 months! Every week or even every day, I had to turn in paperwork stating that I have been homeless for more than a year! Can you understand that? If you don't show up when expected, you go to the bottom of the list, to start all over again. Now, can you understand at least one reason that people can not find/get housing?
When we are homeless, we don't have a telephone to pick up or to leave a number with (which doesn't matter if you do), they do not return calls, or even take them.. You must come to the office. This can really be hard too. If you really want housing, you must keep up with the paperwork. And that means traveling back and forth, showing up and signing in at each place you put your name on the list. It’s very frustrating, but must be done.
Some people can not read or write. Some people are taking too many drugs to even think about going. There are many reasons why homeless don’t get housing so easily. A big, big part of this problem is of course LACK OF HOUSING.
:) :cool:

RobbyG

Hey Robby - so if you dont want to be homeless why dont you change the circumstances - i am not giving you are hard time just challenging what you wrote in your post.

I agree i do not believe homelessness is a choice and people are on the streetes due to a lot of circumstances.

I am not sure what state or even country you are in but remember reading one of your posts and from memory you have a gambling addiction - now i have worked with addicts for a long time and unfortunately there is no cure - and i am assuming (i know should never assume) that you have tried GA, counselling etc etc. But write down or think about the reasons of why do you gamble - i know that with majority of addicts they do what they do for underlying issues which range from abuse to divorce etc etc etc.

Please dont think i am being harsh and i am sure you have heard all this bullshit before but only you can make the positive changes in your life.

Not all welfare workers - service providers are miserable - i still have a heart and have always said when i lose my heart and stop caring i will resign from this job in a heartbeat.

I know where you are coming from with this though and i have written on a post on the forum about this - as a worker having to deal with other services some of them are so miserable and down n out bloody rude - i really dont know how or even why they are working in the welfare industry - i think they lost their heart long ago - but remember not all of us are like that.

Well good luck and take care

RobbyG

Hey Robby - so if you dont want to be homeless why dont you change the circumstances - i am not giving you are hard time just challenging what you wrote in your post.

I agree i do not believe homelessness is a choice and people are on the streetes due to a lot of circumstances.

I am not sure what state or even country you are in but remember reading one of your posts and from memory you have a gambling addiction - now i have worked with addicts for a long time and unfortunately there is no cure - and i am assuming (i know should never assume) that you have tried GA, counselling etc etc. But write down or think about the reasons of why do you gamble - i know that with majority of addicts they do what they do for underlying issues which range from abuse to divorce etc etc etc.

Please dont think i am being harsh and i am sure you have heard all this bullshit before but only you can make the positive changes in your life.

Not all welfare workers - service providers are miserable - i still have a heart and have always said when i lose my heart and stop caring i will resign from this job in a heartbeat.

I know where you are coming from with this though and i have written on a post on the forum about this - as a worker having to deal with other services some of them are so miserable and down n out bloody rude - i really dont know how or even why they are working in the welfare industry - i think they lost their heart long ago - but remember not all of us are like that.

Well good luck and take care

I do it for the hypnotic effect the machines give me from the flashing lights, no other reason, im not into drugs, alchohol, i worked 20 years without a day off in a job i loved blah blah, but i got hypnotised from the machines, thats all i can put it down to, i have tried G.A/ Bridge Programme, (they said they couldnt help me, this is after 6 months of living there with 2 counselling sessions a day), ive been to Psychologists/Psychiatrists.. there are a few of us who for no other reason are addicted to them other than the flashing lights,

Go figure:rolleyes:

Hey RobbyG,

fair call - yeah it makes it very hard doesnt it - unfortunately as you know there is no cure - just hard work and bloody will power - i wish myself they sold will power in a bottle as i would buy a bottle for sure.

Bridge Programm said they couldnt help you - my goodness that is harsh - but maybe they have their reasons. Do you believe you can be helped???????

Yes an addiction is an addiction - same feelings associated with guilt, shame etc etc etc etc - hey hang in there ok

Hi, I am now a little unclear as to what kind of information that you are looking for, if you can be more specific, I will see what I can do, I will enlist the aid of a service provider to help also,
Good Luck, keep goin!
Kim