Rhode Island conducts an annual count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness during the last 10 days of January. In an unsheltered counting efforts, outreach workers and volunteers are organized to canvas Rhode Island to enumerate the people who appear to be living in places not meant for human habitation.
The 2020 PIT Count will be held on the night of Wednesday, January 22, 2020 and at select times and locations between Thursday, January 23 through Saturday the 25th.
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Why do we Count?
(Source:https://endhomelessness.org/resource/what-is-a-point-in-time-count/)
Point-in-time counts are important because they establish the dimensions of the problem of homelessness and help policymakers and program administrators track progress toward the goal of ending homelessness. The first of these counts was conducted in January 2005 meaning that we have data for every [Continuum of Care] for the last ten years. Collecting data on homelessness and tracking progress can inform public opinion, increase public awareness, and attract resources that will lead to the eradication of the problem. If homeless youth are not included in local point-in-time counts, their needs could be under-represented as governments, nonprofits, and key stakeholders at the federal, state, and local level plan to respond to the problem.
HUD uses information from the local point-in-time counts, among other data sources, in the congressionally-mandated Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress (AHAR). This report is meant to inform Congress about the number of people experiencing homelessness in the U.S. and the effectiveness of HUD’s programs and policies in decreasing those numbers.
On the local level, point-in-time counts help communities plan services and programs to appropriately address local needs, measure progress in decreasing homelessness, and identify strengths and gaps in a community’s current homelessness assistance system.
The point-in-time counts are not without limitations. There is variation in count methodology year-to-year within and across communities. Unsheltered counts have more limitations than sheltered counts and there is more variation in methodology. Point-in-time counts are, however, the only measure that enumerates people experiencing unsheltered homelessness in addition to those who are sheltered. And, despite its flaws, the annual point-in-time counts result in the most reliable estimate of people experiencing homelessness in the United States from which progress can be measured.
For more information about what the PIT count is, please check out the National Alliance to End Homelessness website here: https://endhomelessness.org/resource/what-is-a-point-in-time-count/
For more information about the previous PIT data we've collected, please check out our website here: https://www.rihomeless.org/point-in-time-count
