Housing needs assessments in Indian Country target a range of vital housing issues that cover the entire housing spectrum from homelessness to homeownership. A single housing needs assessment project may seek to determine levels of overcrowding and homelessness as well as interest in homeownership or fair market rental units. Tribal needs assessments are also often used to correct state, federal and other data sources that tribes believe do not properly capture the levels of need in their community or accurately tell their story. The act of collecting data describing housing and other needs within tribal lands and about tribal members wherever they may live is an expression of tribal sovereignty, or data sovereignty in this case. Additionally, because homeless and at-risk individuals and families are often a “hidden population” with limited contact or interaction within the network of service providers, they are not always accounted for in the “big picture,” and tribal departments that serve homeless and vulnerable populations, such as behavioral health, child welfare and the public defender’s office, often need to be consulted to fill in these critical data gaps….(See full description in Event Details link)
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