An Iowa State professor says a system she helped develop will count Iowa’s homeless population and direct aid to where it’s needed most.

Paula Dail, professor of human development and family studies, formulated the Counting Homeless Iowans Project (CHIP) with technical assistance from Kathy Shelley, who works in ISU’s statistics laboratory.

Dail said she was asked by the state department of economic development to design a database to count the homeless population in Iowa, since Iowa is one of a few states that does not have mandatory counting and reporting of the homeless.

CHIP includes a database which provides a non-duplicative count of homeless Iowans.

When a person checks into a homeless shelter or service, the service asks a variety of questions and enters that information into Dail’s database.

Each person is identified in the database by a code number, not their name, to protect their confidentiality, said Vic Moss, director of the Emergency Residence Project in Ames.

Moss said the person is asked about 20 questions to find out general information and if he or she is receiving other types of assistance.

“[The purpose is] to come up with some of the reasons for homelessness so maybe better programs can be developed,” he said.

Dail said there was a need for a continual counting of the homeless population so people who were homeless between counts would not be missed.

She said half of the homeless women in Iowa are homeless because of domestic abuse.

Employment and lack of low-cost housing also contribute to much of the homeless problem, Dail said.

About 100 agencies of the 400 in Iowa, which serve the homeless, are submitting information to the CHIP database, according to a press release.

Dail said she hopes to have the program in effect at all agencies in the next three years.

Agencies can collect and submit data by computer or paper. Dail said the data is compiled on a monthly basis.

She said the count determines the amount of federal funding Iowa will receive for homeless assistance programs.

The implementation of mandatory reporting by agencies serving the homeless was important for the funding process.

Moss said that while the information collected by CHIP will help address important issues, the most important factor — the cost of housing — may be overlooked by people.

“I think sometimes the studies contend to divert attention from that biggest need,” Moss said.

“The main reason [people are homeless] is they simply can’t afford housing,” he said.

Moss said the only real solution is more state funding.

“The studies are trying to be more specific, but unless this overriding problem is addressed, they’ll be studying this forever, and there won’t be any changes made unless the state legislature decides they’re going to plug more money into housing for the poor,” he said.