2015 Point In Time Count: Broward County CoC Plan to End Homelessness

PIT Counts defined: Point-in-time count means a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons carried out on one night in the last 10 calendar days of January or at such other time as required by HUD. HEARTH Act, 578.7 Responsibilities of the Continuum of Care: Planning for and conducting, at least biennially, a point-in-time count of homeless persons within the geographic area that meets the following requirements: (i) Homeless persons who are living in a place not designed or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for humans must be counted as unsheltered homeless persons. (ii) Persons living in emergency shelters and transitional housing projects must be counted as sheltered homeless persons. (iii) Other requirements established by HUD by Notice

History of PIT Counts Early1980s - Advocates, est. national homeless population at 2-3m. In the absence of data, these numbers became conventional wisdom.  1980-83 -federal agencies began to conduct national point-in-time (PIT) studies. 1983-84 -HUD conducted the first national PIT study. 1987- USDA funded learn more about the characteristics of the homeless population. 1988 - HUD conducted its first shelter inventory to assess the capacity of the shelter system. 1986 - Following the lead of these national efforts, a number of local communities began systematically collecting data on homeless. 1990 Census – “S-Night” introduced enumeration instead of sampling.

Overview: PIT Counts PIT count data and CoC efforts to produce an accurate count play a critical role in the annual CoC Program Competition. HUD requires CoCs to submit PIT count data and information on the methodology used to generate their sheltered and unsheltered counts. HUD uses this information to ensure that the data are valid and reliable and then to evaluate the progress CoCs are making on reducing homelessness generally and among specific subpopulations. Collecting valid and reliable data and making progress on reducing homelessness are scoring factors in HUD’s CoC Program Competition and can influence CoC Program funding awards.

Overview: PIT Regulations Federal Regulations Entitlement’s Consolidated Plans: 24 CFR 91.205(c)(1) State’s Consolidated Plan: 24 CFR 91.305(c)(1) 578.7 Responsibilities of the Continuum of Care State Regulations F.S. 420.622(9), requires the State Council on Homelessness to submit annual report to Governor and Florida Legislature

Overview: PIT Standards General PIT Count Standards : Standard No. 1: CoCs are responsible for planning and conducting, at least biennially, a PIT count of homeless persons within the geographic area that meets HUD’s requirements. Standard No. 2: The sheltered and unsheltered PIT counts must be conducted during the last 10 days in January and represent all homeless persons who were sheltered and unsheltered on a single night during that period. Standard No. 3: The final PIT count methodology must be approved by the CoC.

Overview: PIT Standards - continued Standards Regarding Coordination of the PIT Count with the Con Plan Jurisdiction: Standard No. 4: All CoCs should consult and collaborate with all Consolidated Plan jurisdictions in the geographical boundary of the CoC, including those that do not have ESG funding, to assist the jurisdictions in submitting PIT count data that is relevant to completing their Consolidated Plans. Standard No. 5: CoCs must provide PIT count data to the entity(ies) responsible for the Consolidated Plan jurisdiction(s) associated with the CoC.

Overview: PIT Standards - continued Sheltered PIT Count Standards: Standard No. 6: CoCs must account for and report on all sheltered homeless people residing in the CoC through a census (complete coverage) or one or more sampling and extrapolation methods that are consistent with HUD standards and guidance. Standard No. 7: CoCs must be able to verify that the sheltered homeless people identified in the count are sheltered on the night designated for the count, as defined at 24 CFR 578.3 of the Homeless Definition Final Rule. Standard No. 8: CoCs should use client data already collected and entered in HMIS as the primary data source for the sheltered PIT count for emergency shelter, Safe Haven, and transitional housing projects that participate in HMIS.

Overview: PIT Standards continued Unsheltered PIT Count Standards: Standard No. 9: CoCs must account for and report on all unsheltered homeless people residing in the CoC’s geography through a census (complete coverage) or one or more sampling and extrapolation methods that are consistent with HUD standards and guidance. Standard No. 10: CoCs may exclude geographic areas where the CoC has determined that there are no unsheltered homeless people, including areas that are uninhabitable (e.g., deserts). CoCs must document the criteria and decision-making process used to identify and exclude specific geographic areas. Standard No. 11: CoCs must be able to verify that the unsheltered homeless people identified in the count are unsheltered on the night designated for the count, as defined at 24 CFR 578.3 the Homeless Definition Final Rule

PIT Overview: PIT Standards - continued Data Quality Standards: Standard No. 12: CoCs must ensure that during the PIT count homeless persons are only counted once. It is critical that the counting methods be coordinated to ensure that there is no double-counting. Standard No. 13: Surveys of people for the sheltered or unsheltered count must be administered in a manner that protects participant privacy and safety, as well as the safety of the person completing the survey. Standard No. 14: CoCs are required to ensure that people conducting the PIT count, including project staff and community volunteers, are appropriately trained about count standards, data collection procedures, and protocols for privacy, security, and personal safety.

Overview: CoC Sheltered PIT Methodology In accordance with Standards 6, 7 and 8, our CoC conducts its Sheltered Count through a Complete Census Count of persons in shelters on the morning after the night of the PIT Count. The data is compiled through CoC HMIS ServicePoint; HOPWA Provide Enterprise HMIS; Comparable HMIS Databases (i.e. Domestic Violence Provider); and Paper Surveys

Overview: CoC Unsheltered PIT Methodology In accordance with Standards 9, 10 and 11, our CoC conducts its Unsheltered Count through a combination of Known Locations Count on the night of the PIT Count and Service-based Count at various social service or other public private locations for two (2) days after the PIT Count night.

PIT Overview: CoC Planning CoC contracts with Broward Regional Health Planning Council, Inc. to provide PIT Count Coordination. PIT Committee is Chaired by Homeless Service Provider on an annual basis. PIT Count conducted between Jan 22-31. 200 or more volunteers and Law Enforcement Officers participate. PIT Count data due to State in March 2015. PIT Count data due to HUD in April 2015.

Conclusion and questions Data integrity is essential; accuracy trumps quantity; and why again does HUD require the PIT in January? Winter = a more precise count of shelter adverse folks 9even in South Florida); Last 10 days, because folks with public benefits cycle in and out of homelessness can be counted; Count data helps establish important local benchmarks in the same time period over time; and Conducting PIT counts in January ensures that CoCs have sufficient time to compile data and report the information to HUD via the Homelessness Data Exchange (HDX) in advance of the annual CoC Program Competition.