BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — We're just a few days away from the annual Point-in-Time Count to track our homeless population and organizers are in need of volunteers.
The Point-in-Time Count provides a look at our community’s homeless population with as much accuracy as possible. The report also plays a vital role in securing federal aid.
Last year was the first in-person point-in-time count since the pandemic with over 1,600 individuals counted.
According to the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the first of these counts was conducted in January 2005.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires that communities receiving federal funds from the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants Program conduct a count of all sheltered people in the last week of January annually.
Unsheltered counts are required every other year although most communities conduct an unsheltered count annually.
During the count, communities are required to identify whether a person is an individual, a member of a family unit, or an unaccompanied youth under the age of 18 or age 18 to 24.
Communities must also identify if a person is chronically homeless.
