Seven-day PIT Count Nets Record Unsheltered

By Sarah Owens and Michael Livingston

No one home at this Detroit area camp on "count day", 1/30/19

All those who thought this year's Point in Time Count (PITC) ended last week, the night of January 30, think again.

It didn't end until this past week -- the night of February 5.

The extra time all but guaranteed this year's count would exceed last year's.
   
We asked the Mid Willamette Community Action Agency (MWVCAA), which organizes the count, how come they publicized and trained for a one-day count, when they knew it was a seven-day count? 

Didn't get a satisfactory explanation.

It seems it was not until late December that they realized it was possible to extend the count.

Even though that was pretty late to be changing things up, they decided to go ahead, because Portland was planning an extended count, which focuses on the unsheltered population. 

What Portland had to do with the decision is that homeless assistance funding, whether state or federal, is a bit of a competition that's based in part (a smaller part than most people assume) on the annual PITC figures.  The assumption is, the more time a community has to complete the count, the more people experiencing homelessness can be counted.  MWVCAA figured if we wanted to compete with Portland for funding, and Portland's extending the count period, we needed to extend the count period, too.

So, in January, that's what MWVCAA asked the 28-county Rural Oregon Continuum of Care (ROCC) (which sadly includes Marion and Polk Counties) to do, and ROCC agreed.  (Yamhill County, also part of the ROCC, has reportedly been doing seven-day counts "for years.")

The 11th-hour change might still have been publicized, but, for some reason, MWVCAA didn't even tell the press.  See:  Powell, M. "Regional Homeless Count Surveys Begin Across Oregon."  (23 January 2019, OPB.)   Brynelson, T. "ARCHES says it needs more volunteers for annual count of region's homeless."  (25 January 2019, Salem Reporter.)  Alexander, R. "In East Salem, volunteers search for homeless people often overlooked."  (30 January 2019, Salem Reporter.)  Woodworth, W. "Volunteers ignore cold to reach hundreds of Salem area homeless for annual count."  (30 January 2019, Statesman Journal.) (All stating or assuming that it would be a one-day count.)  Update:  Salem Reporter tells us MWVCAA did say the count was being extended, but that fact was inadvertently omitted in the editing process.  Even so, it does not let MWVCAA off the hook for failing to get the word out about the change sooner than they did.

Successful PITCs are highly organized and nimbly coordinated affairs.  This year's count in the Santiam Canyon was not nearly as successful as 2018's, which Melissa Baurer coordinated, up until MWVCAA announced they would be taking over.  MWVCAA organized this year's count, but as a one-day event in which fewer than 25 people were surveyed, less than half the count in 2018 and 2017.  Some area  agencies and individuals were asked to continue counting.  

Extending the count increases the risk of duplication because the reference point -- was the person "Category 1" homeless the night of January 29 -- still applies.  That's one reason MWVCAA decided to leave the task of conducting the extended count to "pros", namely MWVCAA staff and staff of trusted partner agencies.

Frmr Fairview Training Center, site of 4 surveys in 2019

The other reason was a fear that untrained volunteers showing up unannounced and unaccompanied at campsites could be perceived as threatening, and trigger a violent response.  (There is widespread feeling that campers are now actively avoiding the annual survey.)  The pros are not only trained, they are familiar to many in the camps.  The danger to the pros in the field is not nil, but it's less than the danger to an untrained volunteer.

HUD requires a count of the unsheltered population only in odd years.  MWVCAA has, historically, conducted an unsheltered count in even years, as well.  But, given the increasingly complex organizational challenges involved, the better course might be for MWVCAA to use its resources to prepare for a well-organized unsheltered count every other year, as HUD and the State of Oregon contemplate.  The State doesn't even recognize the even-year counts.

Surveys are still coming in and must be vetted, but early returns indicate the unsheltered count for Marion County alone will exceed 619.  That's the 2018 unsheltered count for both Marion and Polk Counties. 
 

early returns chart, courtesy Jimmy Jones

For a report on the unofficial results, see Whitworth, W. "Homeless PIT Count shows 20 percent increase in Marion, Polk Counties, with big caveat."  (15 February 2019, Statesman Journal.) (Still stating that the count took place over the course of one day.)