Deemed crucial for getting services for those in need
The Homeless Resource Council of the Sierras, a collaborative group of agencies and nonprofit organizations from Placer and Nevada counties, has announced that Placer County's annual point-in-time count of homeless individuals will take place Jan. 30.
"The count is an important time for us to take stock of the needs in our community, and a crucial step toward getting the resources to meet those needs," said HRCS consultant Scott Thurmond. "We appreciate our partners across Placer who come together to make it sure it happens smoothly."
Trained community partners will be assigned an area where they will interview homeless individuals to complete a brief survey. Homeless counts are required to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The county will likely receive upwards of $1 million through this funding stream this year. Though HUD only requires a full count of both unsheltered and sheltered individuals every other year, Placer County now conducts a full count each year.
Point-in-time counts are not a comprehensive measure of an area's homeless population, but rather snapshots from a single day that can be used to approximate broad trends. Typically, they are viewed as undercounts for a community's yearly overall homeless population because many people may move in and out of homelessness throughout the year.
A total of 617 people were counted in the 2019 count, a lower ratio of homeless people per capita than many surrounding communities in California.