Point-In-Time Count

The Point-in-Time Count, or PIT Count, is an annual survey of homeless people in the United States conducted by local agencies called Continuums of Care (CoCs) on behalf of the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).[1] HUD uses the data from PIT counts to evaluate the effectiveness of local agencies' efforts to address homelessness and to determine funding amounts for them, and also compiles this data into the Annual Homeless Assessment Report, which is provided to Congress.[2][1][3] HUD defines the PIT as a "count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons carried out on one night in the last 10 calendar days of January or at such other time as required by HUD."[3]

The PIT consists of an observational count and a survey of homeless people, the former to establish a sense of scale and the latter to estimate the number of individuals in various subcategories, like homeless veterans or homeless youth.[4]

  1. ^ a b "Don't Count on It: How the HUD Point-in-Time Count Underestimates the Homelessness Crisis in America" (PDF). National Law Center on Homelessness & Poverty. 2017. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 31, 2019. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  2. ^ Boone, Alastair (2019). "Is There a Better Way to Count the Homeless?". Bloomberg.com. CityLab. Archived from the original on August 1, 2019. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  3. ^ a b "Point-in-Time Count Methodology Guide" (PDF). HUD. 2014. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 1, 2019. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
  4. ^ "Alameda County PIT Count Report" (PDF). Applied Survey Research. 2019. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 1, 2019. Retrieved August 1, 2019.