Every two years, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that all communities receiving federal funding for homelessness services conduct a Point-in-Time (PIT) Count of people experiencing homelessness. The PIT Count is the primary source of nationwide data on homelessness and identifies people living in unsheltered and sheltered settings.
Locally, volunteers walk or drive routes covering the entire geography of San Francisco to observe and count individuals experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. Information is also collected from all emergency shelters and transitional housing sites.
This information is used for strategic planning and program design. The PIT Count results impact funding and improve our understanding of the size and characteristics of our homeless population.
San Francisco’s 2022 PIT Count
1/14/2022 UPDATE:
Due to the impact of the current COVID-19 surge, San Francisco has requested approval from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to postpone the 2022 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count to Wednesday, February 23, 2022.
Delaying a month from the original date of January 27, 2022, will help us minimize the health and safety implications of the current surge and reduce impacts on volunteer and staff capacity. Although we are planning to reschedule the Count, we anticipate results will still be available during the summer of 2022 on a timeline similar to the original schedule.
The Local Homeless Coordinating Board approved HSH’s request for a postponement from HUD on Friday, January 14, 2022. With this decision, San Francisco joins other Bay Area CoCs in requesting a postponement to support a safe and successful count.
Results from the 2022 PIT Count will be available in the summer of 2022. To reduce COVID-19 risk, the City is following COVID-19 safety protocols and limiting participation in the count to outreach workers and targeted volunteers. San Francisco hopes to resume broader public participation in the count in future years.
Previous San Francisco PIT Counts
Full PIT Counts typically take place in odd-numbered years. San Francisco’s last full PIT Count took place in 2019. In 2021, HUD approved a waiver exempting San Francisco from conducting the unsheltered component of the 2021 PIT Count due to the COVID-19 pandemic. HSH still conducted the sheltered component of the 2021 PIT Count in line with HUD requirements.
The City’s full 2022 PIT Count will make up for the absence of the unsheltered count in 2021.