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City To Conduct Annual Homeless Headcount On Monday

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- New York City may still be digging out from this weekend's snowstorm when Monday comes around, but that will not stop a headcount of homeless people living on the street.

It is an annual task undertaken by the city and thousands of volunteers, and as CBS2 Political Reporter Marcia Kramer reported, climbing over snow banks will not be a deterrent.

One group of homeless men living in an encampment on Broadway in Midtown have apparently evaded outreach workers for weeks. But officials said they will make sure they are included in the city's homeless population Monday night.

"We want to get a sense of how many individuals are on the street," said de Blasio senior adviser Phil Walzak. "We also want to continue a dialogue with homeless individuals by making them aware of the services the city provides, with the hope of moving them off the streets."

The count was spurred on by actor Ben Stiller, who did a public service announcement seeking volunteers. Some 3,000 people – 750 teams of four – will canvass streets in all five boroughs to count the homeless.

Mayor Bill de Blasio himself will also participate – in the first time a mayor has participated personally in the annual January headcount.

"There are always going to be moments to learn and deepen our knowledge, and deepen our understanding of the problem," Walzak said. "I think that's why you see the mayor wanting to go out on this count."

Outreach workers will also go to the end of every subway line to count the homeless still on the trains, but experts said there is a problem with that – because they will not be going to individual subway stations where many of the homeless hang out.

"They miss them," said former Department of Homeless Services Deputy Commissioner Robert Mascali.

Another question is whether the volunteers miss decoys, who are dressed as homeless people and placed on the street to test the accuracy of the count. If the decoys are overlooked, the count is adjusted.

"The strong point is you get some sort of idea how big the problem is. The weak points are it's not 100 percent accurate," Mascali said.

Last year, volunteers reported finding just over 3,100 homeless people. Officials think the total number could rise this year.

Homeless advocates have always questioned the accuracy of the count, because by federal mandate, it is done in January and the numbers go up when it is warm.

The city said its new HOME-STAT program will do a rolling count that includes summer months.

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