2018 Point in Time (PIT) Count

HUD’s Point-in-Time (PIT) count provides a one-night estimate of both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness, including estimates of the number of people experiencing chronic homelessness, as well as homelessness among individuals, Veterans, families with children, and youth. PIT counts are a critical source of data on the number and characteristics of people who are homeless in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as well as the United States on a single night in January.

The data gathered from the PIT count is included in the Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) and is used by Congress, HUD, other federal departments, and the general public to understand the nature and extent of homelessness.

Data gathered and making progress on reducing homelessness are scoring factors in HUD’s CoC Program Competition and can influence funding awards.

Why We Count :

To better understand homelessness in our community in order for individuals to receive the services they need to get help and into permanent housing.
To determine the congressional homeless funding the County receives.
To comply with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) requirements for Continuums of Care.
The 2018 PIT count will occur throughout both balance of state continuums during the evening of January 24, 2018.

PA BoS PIT Count Webinar

The PA BoS 2018 PIT Count webinar was held on Friday, December 1, 2017 and can be found here.

Speakers included:

Helen Kelly of Wayne County Human Services: Helen worked with her colleagues in Human Services to conduct a well coordinated PIT count in their very rural county. This resulted with the engagement of several unsheltered individuals who would have not otherwise been identified.
Maureen Pounds and Lisa Spencer from the Indiana County Department of Human Services: Hear how Maureen and Lisa worked to create a coordinated comprehensive effort to engage and identify youth during their 2017 unsheltered PIT count.
Leigh Howard of DMA: Leigh provided an update on the changes for the 2018 PIT count.

The webinar is primarily directed to the county coordinators of the unsheltered count, but anyone is welcome to participate in the webinar.