Is there a Better Way to Collect Data on Homelessness?
Many communities will forgo a snapshot count of people experiencing homelessness this year. Advocates see a chance to collect better data.
The U.S. government’s biennial point in time count of people experiencing homelessness is showing its limitations in the current pandemic.
Photographer: Michael Short/BloombergEvery January, dozens of volunteers come together to count the number of people experiencing homelessness in Sonoma County, California.
Led by paid guides who are themselves unhoused, they pile into cars before sunrise, then scatter across a landscape of subdivisions and vineyards that spans a region slightly larger than the state of Rhode Island. The effort, mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is meant to provide a rough sketch of the state of homelessness at a particular moment. Similar efforts play out nationwide at least every other year.