HOW TO MAKE HOMELESS POINT-IN-TIME (PIT) COUNT MORE SUCCESSFUL

The Second Annual Nebraska-Western Iowa Symposium on HomelessnessHomeless in the Heartland

Counting Everyone - Making Everyone Count

Presentation Roadmap Homeless Point in Time

Count 101 2013 PIT Count Summary Region V, 5 year PIT data MACCH - Youth PIT Count Rural PIT Challenges and

Best Practices Regional Experiences

Small group work – Designing a Better PIT

Small group ideas Product: Plan for 2014

BOS Point in Time Count

The Homeless Point in Time Count The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is a count of

sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a single night in January. Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally. 

PIT count provides the homeless assistance community with data needed to understand the number and characteristics of persons who are homeless. 

HUD requires all of Continuums of Care (CoCs) to conduct a PIT count and report the data as part of their annual competitive CoC application.

The Homeless Point in Time Count One ‘night’ in the

last 10 days of January

Unduplicated count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless

PIT and Housing Inventory (HIC) are integrally related

Only sheltered persons counted at a provider listed on the HIC maybe included in PIT count

Who is included in PIT Count – 2013Persons included in PIT Count Sheltered Persons “living in a

supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide temporary living arrangement (including congregate shelters, transitional housing, and hotels and motels paid for by charitable organizations or by federal, state, or local government programs for low-individual)

Unsheltered Persons

Persons NOT included in PIT Count Persons residing in permanent supportive

housing programs, including persons housed using Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (VASH) vouchers.

Persons in any location not listed on the HIC (e.g., staying in programs with beds/units not dedicated for persons who are homeless).

Persons temporarily staying with family or friends (i.e., “doubled-up” or “couch surfing”).

Persons residing in their own unit (i.e., permanent housing) with assistance from a RRH provider program

Persons in Rapid Re-housinghttps://www.onecpd.info/resource/2076/2013-hic-and-pit-of-homeless-persons-data-

collection-guidance/

PIT Count Methods Sheltered - 2013 HMIS Providers

Sheltered Population Service Count Population

Non-HMIS Providers Paper PIT Count Form *

Domestic Violence Shelters Aggregate forms of persons

sheltered on night of PIT count

Personal identifying information (PII) for Non-HMIS providers paper forms are critical for de-duplication efforts.

Name, DOB, Gender, Race

PIT Count Methods Unsheltered Public Place Counts

Known Locations Contact counts

Law Enforcement Schools Churches

Service based count Persons presenting

for services

Personal Identifying information for unsheltered count are critical for de-duplication efforts.

Name, DOB, Gender, Race

Use of Unsheltered PIT Count Form

BOS – 3 year PIT Sheltered Count Trends

2013 PIT

748 persons in 430 households

58 Chronic Ind. 20 Chronic Fam.

279 children/youth 21 unaccompanied 2011 2012 2013

223 208272

496

385 423

Emergency Shelter Transitional Housing

Regional - January 2013 PIT CountThe distribution of homeless persons in the BOS by housing type across regions was widely variable.

Identified unsheltered persons were nearly all in Region 2.

Region 1 Region 2 Region 3 Region 4 Region 5

22

95

39 30

86

31

117

75

163

375

43

5 0 0

Emergency Shelter Transitional HousingUnsheltered

Nebraska - January 2013 PIT Count3,190 homeless persons counted

Estimates are that approximately 10% of U.S. homeless population live in rural areas of the country (NAEH, 2009).

23% of Homeless Persons counted on 2013 Point in Time Count were in the Nebraska Balance of State Continuum of Care Omaha Lincoln BOS

940

349272

519 514423

17103 53

Emergency Shelter Transitional Housing

Northeast Nebraska PIT Count 2009-2013

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

93 98 91

6786

227

18 2037

3 3 3 0 0

Emergency Shelter Transitional HousingUnsheltered

Northeast Nebraska Subpopulation data 2009 - 2013

2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

1812 11

1720

1411 11

8 10

26 26

34

18

26

34

12

34

21 20

25

2 3 4

D.V. Chronic. Sub. AbuseMental Illness Veteran

Youth and Young Adult PIT Count Omaha Metro Area Continuum

conducts Youth Specific PIT that counts unaccompanied youth (24 & <) who are homeless or unstably housed.

Not all of these youth counted are included in PIT Count for HUD but maybe submitted as additional information.

Youth and Young Adult PIT Count 310 Youth counted in 2013 18% were 18 years of age or younger 17% of youth were parents and 83% of

those with children had custody 14% with severe mental illness 8% with chronic substance abuse

MACCH – Youth & Young Adult PIT Count

Unsheltered Couch Surfing Emergency Shelter

Transitional Housing

8%

39%

27% 26%

Rural CoC Point in Time Counts Rural CoCs are challenged in having to

count unsheltered individuals in extensive, sometimes unknown or hard to reach locations with minimal resources.

What are solutions in overcoming these challenges?

Rural CoCs are challenged in having to count unsheltered individuals in extensive, sometimes unknown or hard to reach locations with minimal resources.

What are solutions in overcoming these challenges?

Rural Point in Time Count Critical to involve the wider community on

broad level early and often. Partner with Law Enforcement as critical to

successful PIT unsheltered count. Identify ‘known locations’ well prior and

strategically plan ‘street’ count efforts with specific providers / agencies

Rural Point in Time Count Better utilize local schools and coordinate with

homeless liaisons if present Improve coordination with NDE homeless liaison Consider regional Project Homeless Connect event

during PIT Count Consider expanding the unsheltered count time period

over a greater period of time to cover more areas Biennial PIT Count

BOS Point in Time - Regional Experience

Lessons learned from experience and challenges yet to overcome!

Building a Better PIT Count Unsheltered Focus

In your small groups, create a list of strategies that would help enhance the point in time count in your region. Focus on unsheltered count and non-HMIS provider methods Remember enough PII must be obtained to de-duplicate with other

data collection methods Address methods of outreach and greater community involvement

How can the PIT Count information be used in your region?