Austin’s annual, federally required count of people experiencing homelessness won’t happen in person this year due to pandemic health and safety concerns. Austin’s Ending Community Homelessness Coalition (ECHO) announced in a release Thursday morning that it had sought and received an exception from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to use other data sources to measure homelessness in the Austin area.
The Point in Time Count (or PIT count) is used nationwide to offer a snapshot of how many people are experiencing homelessness in a community on any given night.
The count, which happens in January each year, is required by HUD in order for communities to qualify for federal dollars to address homelessness. In Austin, ECHO coordinates the count and will typically work with hundreds of volunteers weeks or months in advance to canvass different areas of the city in the early morning hours for people experiencing homelessness.