Tips for surveyors: 2026 HCC PIT Count

Author: Howie River | Date Created:12/23/2025 | Date Updated:

What this is

This articles tips for surveyors who are participating on the night of the 2026 Hennepin PIT count.

What you need to know

Before you start

1. Get logged into HMIS and pre-set your workgroup and organization
2. Print the forms you will need and practice explaining them to others
   1. Data privacy notice
   2. Release of Information
3. Gather some helpful tools to keep on hand:
   1. Pen or pencil (pencils don't freeze outside!)
   2. Notebook or sheets of paper

What counts as unsheltered?

The following situations are considered unsheltered:

• Abandoned building/house without utilities
• Bridge/overpass/railroad
• Bus/light rail/train
• Doorway/skyway
• Park
• Private property (storage, barn, fish house)
• Street or sidewalk
• Vehicle (car, truck, van, camper)
• Restaurant/laundromat
• Up all night walking
• Other (unsheltered)

Introducing yourself

• You will likely be approaching people to collect PIT information.
• Here's a script for introducing yourself:
  • "Hi there, my name is XXXX"
  • "We are collecting information for the Point-in-Time count tonight/today. This is a survey that helps us understand how many people are experiencing homelessness in our community. We are asking a few questions to clarify where people being served by this program slept on Wednesday night"
• Get consent to continue with the survey questions
  • "Are we okay to move forward?"

Gathering information

• Determine if the person has already been surveyed for PIT night.
  • "Has anyone else asked you questions about where you slept on Wednesday night"?
  • If they have already been surveyed, you can stop.
• Work with the person to see if they were unsheltered on PIT night, and if so, where they were. Here is a script of how to do this:
  • "First off, can you tell me where you slept on Wednesday night 1/28?"
  • And can you also tell me what city and county you were in?
  • If anything besides one of the unsheltered options, you can thank them for their time and move on
  • If they were unsheltered in Hennepin you can proceed to the Hennepin PIT Unsheltered Workflow
    • Note if a household with more than one person was unsheltered together on PIT night, you should add the PIT Unsheltered service to each individual client record.

Unusual Circumstances you may run into

• The person reports they were unsheltered but in a different CoC/county on PIT night
  • You can complete a PIT LIVE form instead - that result will be applied to the other CoC
• You observe the person is unsheltered on PIT night but you can't engage with them directly (ie they are asleep or it's just not a safe environment to approach)
  • You can record an Observation through the PIT LIVE form
• The person disclosed they were unsheltered on the night but did not wish to provide you with their name or HMIS Client ID number
  • You can record an Observation through the PIT LIVE form