Point-in-Time Estimates of Homelessness, 2012. Volume I of the 2012 Annual Homeless Assessment Report.

摘要

Point-in-Time (PIT) estimates offer a snapshot of homelessnessof both sheltered and unsheltered homeless populationson a single night. The one-night counts are conducted by Continuums of Care (CoC) in late January of each year. The PIT counts also provide an estimate of the number of homeless persons within particular subpopulations, such as chronically homeless people and veterans, and counts of beds in emergency shelters, transitional housing programs, safe havens, and permanent supportive housing programs. In 2012, the PIT estimates of both homeless people and beds were reported by 427 CoCs nationwide, covering virtually the entire United States. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires CoCs to conduct counts of sheltered homeless people annually and counts of unsheltered homeless people every two years (odd-numbered years). However, many CoCs choose to conduct annual counts of both populations. In 2012, 67 percent of CoCs conducted both a PIT count of their sheltered and unsheltered homeless populations, and 33 percent conducted a shelter count only. For this report the 2011 estimates of unsheltered homelessness were used for the 33 percent of CoCs without new unsheltered counts. HUD has standards for conducting the PIT counts, and CoCs use a variety of approved methods to produce the counts. HUD reviews the data for accuracy and quality prior to creating the estimates, for this report.