The claims of lower number of homeless do not jive with what I see with my own lying eyes.  And if I were those people getting all that boku bucks from the City and State to deal with the homeless problem, I would definitely toot 
my own horn and of course I will claim that there has been an improvement.  To report anything else would be cutting my own throat and no more wetting my beak at taxpayer expense.  Helping the homeless and getting funding from the
City and State or Feds is the soup de jour of the day.