Title
Status Report of the 2022 Point-in-Time County Count of the Unhoused in the City of Alameda
Body
To: Honorable President Sarah Lewis and Members of the Social Service Human Relations Board
BACKGROUND
The Point-In-Time (PIT) count is a United States Housing and Urban Development (HUD) mandated accounting of the local homeless population conducted every two years, on a single night in January, the coldest period of the calendar year. EveryOne Home, the Continuum of Care (CoC) collective impact organization that addresses and aims to end homelessness in Alameda County, is responsible for coordinating the PIT count.
The PIT count provides a snapshot of data available on the size and characteristics of the homeless population in a CoC over time. The data also informs the funding that the County will receive for homeless services. The PIT was not conducted in 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic and was deferred to January 25, 2022.
Included in the count are individuals living on streets, or in tents, make shift shelters, vehicles, parks, abandoned buildings, bus or train stations, camping grounds, emergency and domestic violence shelters, community cabins, transitional housing programs, safe parking and seasonal/overflow shelters. Not included in the count are individuals staying place-to-place (couch surfing), residing in doubled up or crowded conditions, in rehabilitation or mental health facilities, in jail or prison, or pending eviction or foreclosure.
The City of Alameda will take a lead role in organizing PIT efforts in the City of Alameda, and will coordinate with service providers.
According to the 2019 PIT, there are now 8,022 people experiencing homelessness in Alameda County, an increase of 43% from two years ago, and the highest increase among Bay Area counties. The City of Alameda’s homeless population had an uptick of 13% to 231 people, compared to the last count conducted in 2017.
DISCUSSION
This year, the CoC has worked with Alameda County to develop a new structure with careful consideration of COVID-related safety. The new approach will rely heavily on existing service provider outreach teams while also recruiting some community volunteers. Volunteers will be asked to sign up with people who are in their social pods. This year, no central gathering place will be used and teams will meet directly in the area they are surveying. The County will also be using a special app for cell phones to help collect PIT counts and other the census tract information.
At the SSHRB’s December 9, 2021 meeting, staff will provide the status of the local planning efforts for the January 25, 2022 PIT Count.
The PIT Count will start with a count of shelters on the evening of January 24, and then visual count beginning at 5:00 am on January 25. Teams will move in groups to do a visual count without interacting with individuals. Teams that are formed with service provider staff will include an unhoused guide. Community volunteer teams will not include a guide for COVID safety reasons. The count will include those residing in winter shelters, temporary hotel stays and other similar programming.
To create a more accurate count, the PIT Count will be followed by a smaller “Person Multiplies” effort. This would count the average number of individuals living in recreational vehicles, cars, tents and makeshift structures.
The PIT will also be followed by a survey of 5-10% of the unsheltered and sheltered homeless population. These surveys are designed to give information required by HUD, but they can also include limited questions from local communities. The survey process will be conducted by guides who are peers and have lived experience being unhoused.
A similar Youth PIT count will occur on January 25 in the afternoon. Included in this count will be unaccompanied children age 17 and under, unaccompanied young adults age 18-24 and unaccompanied parenting children and young adults. Youth teams will be led by youth familiar with youth homelessness in the area, with a youth-serving organization organizing this effort. These youth guides would be paid $20 per hour. The youth would identify locations where unhoused youth reside. The youth count will be a targeted effort and will not occur in every Census tract. Youth will be counted in youth serving programs, including transgender serving organizations, as well as in known encampments.
RECOMMENDATION
This is not an action item. This status report is presented for information and SSHRB discussion only.
Respectfully submitted by,
Veronika Cole, Community Services Manager