Continuum of Care Advisory Council
Homeless Survey
2009 Minnesota Statewide Survey of Persons Without Permanent Shelter - Companion Survey on Reservations Leech Lake Reservation. (Please do not fill-out and return the survey, it is no longer active.)
Click here to see the Wilder Survey
Homeless Survey Results
Click here to see the Wilder Survey results
Guide to Reading The Data Tables
The attached set of data tables is organized in categories that were selected based on suggestions about what would be most useful on the reservations. The categories are:
- Youth – Youth, for purposes of this study, are defined as youth and young adults who are 21 or younger and do not have their own children or their children are not currently living with them. This is because laws regarding homeless and runaway youth, at both the federal and the state level, include youth in this age range in their definition. Youth who have children living with them are grouped with other parents.
- Adult – Adults, for purposes of this study, are defined as individuals who are age 22 and older and do not have their own children or their children are not currently living with them. Adults who have children with them are grouped with other parents.
- Parents – Parents include individuals of any age who report their children are living with them.
How to read these tables
For each question in the survey, we have grouped responses into the three categories shown above: We also show the overall totals for each question. Every survey question for which there is data is reported.
Throughout the report there are some additional tables that show averages for some questions (age, income, number of nights spent outside, and a few others). These show five things about each question: the “mean” (numerical average), the “N” (number of answers), the “median” (the point at which half the answers were more and half the answers were less), the “minimum” (the smallest answer, for instance, the youngest age), and the “maximum” (the largest answer, for instance, the oldest age). These tables are all labeled “Report.”
Walk through of Table 1:
The first table is titled, “Where did you sleep last night?” To the far left of the tables is the question, “Where did you sleep last night?” In the first column, reading from top to bottom, are the response categories: “temporary arrangement for free”, “some other temporary arrangement”, “emergency shelter”, “a place that you received a voucher for”, “traditional camp”, “outdoors, an abandon building, vehicle,” “transitional housing” or “some other arrangement”. To the side of each response category, there are two lines of data. The first line, “count”, reports the number of persons who responded with this answer category. As you follow this across the page to the right, you will see the number of persons who responded in each of the three groups listed above (youth, adult, and parents) and then the last column gives you the total number of persons who responded to the listed answer category. The second line of data, “% within family type”, gives the percentage of persons within each grouping (youth, adult or parent). If you add the percentages from top to bottom, the total percentage equals 100 percent.
Walk through of a “Report” table
The first table showing mean, median, minimum, and maximum is just before Table 3. At the top left of the table is the variable “staylong,” which shows how many days the respondent has stayed in the place where they were the previous night.
Down the left side you will see the same three family type and age groupings as in the other tables. The first row shows the information for Youth 21 or younger. In the first column is the Mean, or average answer given by youth to the question. The second column, labeled “N,” shows how many youth answered the question. “Median” tells the middle point, where half the answers are larger and half are smaller. “Minimum” is the smallest answer given by any respondent, and “Maximum” is the largest answer anyone gave. After row for Adults and another for Parents is the last row, showing the same information for all people combined (Total).
Other items to notice as you look at the tables:
Note that not all questions are answered by all respondents. Therefore it is important to look carefully at the grand total in the bottom right corner of each table (or the N shown for the Total section in the Reports of averages). This shows how many people answered this question.
For example, you may see that the grand total is smaller than the total number of interviews for your reservation. Some of the missing numbers may be from people who chose not to answer that particular question, some may be from people who answered “I don’t know,” and some may be from people who answered that the question did not apply to them (for instance, because they did not consider themselves to be homeless). In some cases, particular questions may not have been asked on your reservation. The percentages shown are based on only those people whose answers are shown in the table.
In other tables the total number of responses is smaller than the reservation total because the question was not asked of everyone. For instance, questions about children were not asked of respondents who had no children.
Feel free to contact Wilder Research if you would like additional help in reading the data tables or if you have any questions. You can contact June Heineman at 651-280-2693 (email june@wilder.org) or Ellen Shelton at 651-280-2689 (email ecs@wilder.org). Our toll-free number is 1-800-328-2972.
More Information
Coc Advisory Council Home Page - Click here
CoC Advisory Council Ten Year Plan - Click here
CoC Advisory Council Meeting Minutes - Click here