What is the Point-in-Time Count (PIT)?

The Point-in-Time or PIT Count is Minnesota's annual count of all persons experiencing homelessness, in both sheltered and unsheltered situations. The PIT Count also happens nationwide every year and is required by HUD, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.

During the PIT Count there is a large-scale community-wide effort to identify folks experiencing homelessness that may not otherwise be counted, namely those that are unsheltered, or living on the street or in a place not meant for habitation (such as a car or abandoned building). In Minnesota, we also count those that are doubled up (which means they are “couch hopping” or temporarily staying with family or friends).

Why is it Important?

The PIT illuminates the impact we as a community are having on reducing and ending homelessness (similar to a census). While it isn’t feasible to count every single person experiencing homelessness every day, counting on the same set of days each year provides a snapshot for comparison over time. Consistent questions asked every year across the state help us examine trends, watch for changes, and help better understand how to target resources.

Here are some ways PIT data is used:

At a national level by HUD and other agencies that fund Homeless Services initiatives
At the state level to inform Minnesota’s statewide plan to prevent and end homelessness
By regions (each known as a Continuum of Care) and individual agencies to make plans for addressing homelessness
By the media and by research groups

Who is Involved in the PIT Count?

While it looks different from state to state and from region to region, in Minnesota, there is a large-scale collaboration that brings together lots of different stakeholders. This collaboration ensures that the count is coordinated, that it follows the directives required by HUD, and that there is a clear path for the data to be combined into one final count.

During the PIT Count, street outreach workers, agency staff, and volunteers survey those experiencing homelessness in unsheltered and doubled-up situations. The majority of the PIT Count data, however, comes from the data entered into Minnesota's Homelessness Management Information System (HMIS) by the Emergency Shelters, Transitional Housing programs, and Safe Haven programs that participate in HMIS. Emergency Shelter and Transitional Housing programs that do not participate in HMIS (such as domestic violence shelters) also contribute data to the PIT Count.

How Do We Get the Numbers?

There Are Two Counts: Sheltered and Unsheltered

There are two counts that make up the PIT Count in Minnesota and different groups that collect the data for each count:

A sheltered count for those experiencing homelessness who are in Emergency Shelters, Transitional Housing, or Safe Haven programs on the night of the PIT. The sheltered count includes data from agencies that participate in HMIS as well as data from non-HMIS projects (such as domestic violence projects).
An unsheltered and doubled-up count of those experiencing homelessness who are on the street, in a place not meant for habitation, or temporarily staying with friends or family. The unsheltered and doubled-up count is collected by street outreach teams, volunteer surveyors, school liaisons, and other community partners using a face-to-face survey.

Ways to Administer the Count

For Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, and Safe Haven agencies that participate in HMIS, the night of the PIT is business as usual! The data you enter into HMIS about the people your program served on the night of the PIT will be included in the final PIT Count.

For agencies with Emergency Shelter and Transitional Housing programs that do not participate in HMIS, data may be collected through a face-to-face survey or (rarely) aggregate numbers. Each CoC will communicate with the non-HMIS agencies in their region to connect them with the PIT process.

The unsheltered and doubled-up count is collected through face-to-face surveys of folks experiencing homelessness.

After the PIT Night

After PIT night, data entry continues, and data review, compilation, and cleanup begins! ICA, CoC Coordinators, and local PIT leads will reach out to agencies to clarify answers and identify data cleanup needs. To get a final PIT Count that is as accurate as possible, we rely on all those who are participating in the count to be diligent about collecting and entering data correctly!