Point-In-Time Count

Data collection was completed January 22 – February 2, 2024

The Unsheltered Point-in-Time (PIT) Count is required every other year by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in order to receive federal funding, however, it is widely understood to be an undercount.

KCRHA is conducted both an unsheltered and sheltered PIT Count in January 2024, along with the required Housing Inventory Count of emergency shelter beds and certain types of housing units.

Timeline

Data Collection: January 22 – February 2, 2024

Analysis of Data: Feb 2 – April 30, 2024

Unsheltered data is verified and cleaned
Shelter and transitional program providers clean, review, and submit data
Unsheltered and sheltered data is combined into one data set to be prepared for submission to HUD
Final data is reviewed and approved by KCRHA leadership
Final data set is submitted to HUD

Report Development: February 2 – May 31, 2024

Volunteer feedback is collected via surveys and focus groups and is analyzed
Final data set is analyzed and written into a report for the community
Documents are prepared and posted for KCRHA boards and the general public
Community feedback sessions on the PIT report results are scheduled

More Information

Download a one-page explanation of the 2024 Unsheltered PIT Count

Download the 2024 Unsheltered PIT Count Methodology Info Sheet

Watch a video with details on the methodology

View a letter from University of Washington researchers about the methodology

The count will take place over two weeks, using a Respondent Driven Sampling (RDS) methodology approved by HUD and consistent with what was used in 2022. RDS has been shown to be effective in reaching people who are not already connected to services, providing a data point that supplements client data in the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) and other systems.

KCRHA is working with researchers at the University of Washington and people with lived experience of homelessness to ensure validity in design, data collection, and analysis. We will work with these researchers to have the final methodology approved by an Institutional Review Board (IRB) and results will be peer reviewed for publication. Data will be collected using a digital survey and will not include qualitative interviews like the 2022 count.

The PIT Count is an important tool to help track demographics and illuminate year-over-year trends for the region. While the RDS methodology provides a more accurate snapshot than the traditional one-night street count, it is still likely an undercount.

For planning and accountability purposes, KCRHA will continue to work towards a system that is responsive to the 53,000 people who experience homelessness, both sheltered and unsheltered, over the course of a year in King County.