Says here that the Urban Ministry Center found 841 “chronically homeless” persons in Charlotte. But for years CMS — and Mayor Anthony Foxx again the other day — used a figure of 3000 homeless children in Charlotte.

Since we are not claiming 3000 orphans on the street, it must be the case that there are at least 6000 — and possibly 9000 — total homeless persons if there are indeed 3000 homeless children. Yet a headcount turns up 841 — with “only” 600 cryptically expected by the UMC, allowing it to declare the problem “worse” than they had expected.

The sharp-eyed will note this qualifying term “chronically” which is defined as “those who have been homeless for more than year or four times in three years.” It seems to me we have a definitional problem. Poverty activists have redefined “homeless” to mean anyone with a disrupted or in-flux living situation as homeless. Thus a student temporarily living in a motel or with relatives is “homeless.” But when it comes time to count actual homeless people, a new category has to be created, the “chronically” homeless.

I suggest a truce in the number-scare game and a first-priority focus on helping any and all kids in that 841 number to the best of our ability.

Update: OK, now this is just getting weird. From the UPoR:

It has long been estimated that Charlotte had about 500 such people among its estimated 6,500 homeless.

But the survey found 741, and the number will likely climb to 850, based on survey sheets yet to be calculated, said Kathy Izard of the Urban Ministry Center’s Homeless to Homes program.

Of the 741, nearly half are vulnerable to dying on the streets due to health problems ranging from Hepatitis C to emphysema. …

…There’s no way to judge the accuracy of the survey responses, but here are the findings:

The most vulnerable among the 741 had spent an average of 6.1 years living on the streets.

521 hospitalizations were reported among the respondents in the past year.

540 had no insurance.

252 reported being a victim of a violent attack since becoming homeless.

The results of the study were released Friday by Becky Kanis of Common Ground, a New York-based organization that has guided similar surveys in 21 other communities.

Huh? This is pure sophistry.