Point In Time Count

Background

The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that each Homeless Continuum of Care conduct a point-in-time count of individuals and families experiencing homelessness, using HUD-approved methodology in order to qualify for Continuum of Care (CoC) funds. HUD specifies that this count must be performed during the last ten days of January. While HUD only requires the full count every other year, Nevada County’s CoC has decided to perform the count annually, starting in 2018. Point-in-time counts are not a comprehensive measure of an area's homeless population, but rather snapshots from a single day that can be used to approximate broad trends. Typically, they are viewed as undercounts for a community's yearly overall homeless population because many people may move in and out of homelessness throughout the year.

• Included in the Count: Unsheltered Homeless - people living outside, in cars, or other places not meant for human habitation and Sheltered Homeless - people living in emergency shelters, motels paid for by an agency and transitional housing for the homeless. 
• Not included in the Count: those temporarily living with family or friends (doubled up or couch surfing), those living in permanent supportive housing or Rapid Rehousing, and those in institutions – such as jails, foster care, or hospitals

Point in Time counts  are a useful tool to understand the general landscape of homelessness as a snapshot in time on the day the count was conducted. As CoCs get better at conducting counts, more people are counted. For example, the 2022 count included a youth PIT count that coordinated youth providers to engage homeless youth in areas where they may be located. Additionally, improvements to the PIT count process have resulted in a better count of homeless adults and families. 

2022 Count

Nevada County Count: The Nevada Count Regional Continuum of Care (NCRCoC),  in coordination with Nevada County and the Homeless Resource Council of the Sierras (HRCS), conducted Nevada County's annual point-in-time count of homeless individuals and families on February 24th, 2022. Due to the COVID pandemic, communities and Continuums of Care (CoC) organizations across California canceled PIT counts in 2021, making this the first full sheltered and unsheltered count in the region since 2019. The County and the CoC coordinate annual counts and worked closely with all partners to ensure a safe and comprehensive count for 2022. A total of 527 individuals experiencing homelessness were counted, with 284 who were sheltered and 243 who were unsheltered. 

The COVID-19 pandemic had significant implications to homelessness. Many variables such as loss of household income, a lack of affordable housing, and a seller's housing market contributed to an increase in homelessness. This is reflected in the increase in the homeless count for 2022.

Children and young adults were counted for the first time as part of a youth point in time count. The Youth Action Board of Nevada County Regional Continuum of Care, which includes Bright Futures for Youth's SAFE program, Nevada County Superintendent of Schools, United Way of  Nevada County and other organizations, held six events in the community to connect with youth to determine where they slept on the night of the February 23rd.

2021 Point in Time Count

Nevada County Count The 2021 PIT count was a full count including sheltered and unsheltered. For 2021, 238 sheltered and 163 unsheltered were counted for a total of 401 people experiencing homelessness. 

2020 Point in Time Count

Nevada County Count: Because of the COVID-9 pandemic, HUD allowed Continuums of Care to do shelter counts only for 2020, which Nevada County opted to do. For 2020, 136 sheltered individuals were counted. 

2019 Point in Time Count

Nevada County Count: Various shelters counted their n umber of guests on  the night of January 24th, 2019., including Hospitality House, the Sierra Roots Warming Center, the Truckee Warming Center, and the Booth Family Center.  The 2019 Point in Time results demonstrated a 11% increase as compared to 2017. Various factors can affect these results since PIT counts are performed on a singe night, such as weather, location of the event, etc. 

2019 Point In Time Results One pager

2018 Point in Time Count

Nevada County Count: Various shelters counted their number of guests on the night of January 24th, 2018, including Hospitality House, the Sierra Roots Waring Center, the Truckee Warming Center, and the Booth Family Warming Center. During the day n January 25th, 2018, Nevada County and multiple community organizations (including Hospitality House, Salvation Army, Sierra Roots, SPIRIT Peer Empowerment Center, Community Beyond Violence, and Pets in Need hosted a Homeless Connect Event at the Salvation Army in Grass Valley, with a wide variety of services, including a warm meal. The 2018 Point in Time results demonstrated a 27% decrease as compared to 2017. Various factors can affect these results since PIT counts are performed on a single night, such as weather (this year's count was performed on a cold and snowy day), location of the event, etc. This year's count results are relatively in line with previous year's count results. 

2018 Point In Time Results One Pager

2018 Point In Time Results Summary