Santa Cruz plans to use a strategy pioneered in San Francisco to reach out to people who are homeless and ensure they are included in next year's federal census.

A more accurate count could mean more government funding, according to Samantha Green of the United Way of Santa Cruz County, citing estimates that the city of Santa Cruz missed out on $11 million due to an undercount in the previous census.

Homeless people traditionally have been difficult to count.

In January, a survey of all 52 census tracts in Santa Cruz County found 1,536 homeless persons plus another 729 homeless individuals in shelters, motels or transitional housing. Meanwhile, a federally recommended formula put the number at 4,624.

The county's Complete Count Committee, a group dedicating to census accuracy, has been meeting for months talking about how to reach difficult-to-count populations.

Peter Connery of Applied Survey Research, which coordinated the January count, explained how Project Homeless Connect, a 5-year-old effort to end homelessness in San Francisco, has connected thousands of homeless people with services provided at a one-day event. More than 220 cities have since adopted the same strategy, offering medical and dental screenings, meals, job counseling and child care in a single location rather than expecting people to visit multiple agencies in different places.

Connery suggested a one-day event in Santa Cruz to create the largest possible gathering of local homeless individuals on a date during the census count.City Councilman Don Lane is enthusiastic about the idea. He had been on the staff of the Homeless Services Center in Santa Cruz and now serves on the board as well as on the Complete Count Committee.

"We can provide some special services on this one day that can make a real difference in the lives of homeless people in our community," he said. He envisions dozens, if not hundreds, of people providing services on March 30.

The plan is to schedule the event at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium if the City Council approves.

What makes such an event possible is the support of United Way, which has tapped Green to be volunteer coordinator.

Green, 27, originally from Gilroy, is eager to make it happen. A graduate of the London School of Economics with a master's degree in anthropology, she is one of five AmeriCorps members funded by the federal stimulus and assigned by the Volunteer Center to nonprofits in Santa Cruz County through June 30.

She will go to San Francisco on Wednesday to see Project Homeless Connect in action at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium along with Kymberly Lacrosse, a United Way community organizer, and two AmeriCorps members working at the Homeless Services Center.

The success of the March 30 event depends on whether people who are homeless take advantage of it. Green is looking at ways to get bus passes to them. She also looked at what worked in Salinas: Rehab services, needle exchange, clothes and haircuts." We want to do that," she said, encouraging interested agencies and volunteers to contact her.

By Jondi Gumz, Santa Cruz Sentinel - 12/8/2009