Virus, other problems threaten to throw off homeless census
Associated PressLAS VEGAS — The swanky, billion-dollar casinos of Las Vegas are bedecked with shining towers, neon signs and eye-popping extravagance. When census takers tried in September to count the nation’s homeless for the 2020 census, safety concerns prevented them from venturing into the Las Vegas tunnels. America DePasquale, who lived in the tunnels from May 2018 until she moved into a detox facility last month, said she never saw census takers visit the area underneath the Las Vegas Strip. People who may have answered the census questionnaire last spring but later became homeless may not be recorded as homeless and may be living in a different place, the watchdog agency said in a report. It deals with apportionment for legislative seats, formula shares for federal funding, a whole range of issues.” Census takers would face a lot of challenges if they tried to enter the tunnels on their own to interview residents, said Paul Vautrinot, who leads Shine a Light, a nonprofit that provides housing, counseling and other services to several hundred people living in the tunnels.
History of this topic
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