Measuring the extent of homelessness in Slovenia

The following article presents a study which was conducted in order to establish indicators for monitoring the problem of homelessness in Slovenia, to identify viable sources of information for measuring homelessness and hidden homelessness, assess the extent of homelessness on the basis of secondary sources and to suggest the means for collecting data on the number of homeless individuals in Slovenia. Our survey follows the international typology of homelessness called ETHOS, which defines 13 operational categories, for each of which we have defined several indicators based on eight distinct sources of information. Additionally, the methodology underlying the collecting, analysis and interpretation of sources/indicators is also described. Numeric assessments of the extent of homelessness are conveyed in four tables corresponding with four conceptual categories posited by ETHOS. Finally, the article also recommends guidelines for future development of systematic measuring of the extent of homelessness.