Questions loom as Fresno Housing Authority takes over point-in-time homelessness count

Big changes are coming this year for the program that counts Fresno’s homeless population, but it’s unclear why.

Fresno’s point-in-time count this year will be conducted by the Fresno Housing Authority instead of the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care. Additionally, this year’s count will only record people in shelters instead of attempting to count the area’s entire homeless population.

The change comes a year after the region once again set a new record for homelessness.

The FMCoC’s 2023 PIT Count occurred on the night of Jan. 24, 2023, and recorded 4,493 unsheltered people throughout Fresno and Madera counties, with 2,758 — or 61% — identified as being unsheltered. The number of homeless people in Fresno and Madera counties has increased each year since 2015, when the recorded number was 1,722.

In previous years, the FMCoC would manage the process, and call for volunteers to help count the number of unhoused residents throughout Fresno and Madera counties.

However, this year’s count pivoted to just taking stock of people in shelters due to a lack of resources, according to Laura Moreno, director of the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care.

The change still follows the mandate from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which requires a count be done “at least biannually.”

It was unclear whether the Fresno Housing Authority plans to survey Madera County and its shelters. It also wasn’t clear how much this year’s count will cost.

The Fresno Housing Authority did not answer Fresnoland’s repeated requests for an interview. Fresno’s local HUD office in San Francisco also did not respond to a request for comment.

Donald Whitehead Jr. of the National Coalition for the Homeless said that it is common for a continuum of care to hand off their PIT count responsibility to neighboring agencies.

However, Whitehead also said that, in his experience, it was uncommon for a continuum of care to be unable to manage a PIT count due to a lack of resources.

“Little comprehensive data exist on PIT count costs,” according to research published by the U.S. Government Accountability Office in 2021. However, the GAO found that of the 41 CoCs they surveyed for their report, “all 41 CoCs reported using volunteers to complete their PIT counts.” They also added that “the most common PIT count costs were for incentives for volunteers and meals.”

What Is a Point-in-Time Count?

A Point-in-Time Count is meant to take stock of a region’s homeless population during a night in January. PIT counts are mandated by HUD and typically managed by a region’s continuum of care. They normally take place during the last 10 days of January.

“CoCs must plan and conduct, at least biennially, a PIT count of persons experiencing homelessness within the geographic area,” according to HUD’s 2024 PIT Count notice.

“The HIC and PIT count data,” the notice says, “will continue to provide critical updates on national and local progress towards preventing and ending homelessness.”

Fresno reports dip in homeless numbers

While homelessness climbed for the seventh straight year in the Fresno-Madera region last year, Mayor Jerry Dyer’s office this week said the City of Fresno actually saw fewer unhoused residents on its streets in 2023.

Citing the latest data from the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care, officials said the city saw its homeless population decrease from 3,397 in 2022 to 3,207 in 2023, a 5.6% drop.

The FMCoC’s 2023 data show a growth in the homeless population since 2022, but the increase can be attributed to a surge in Madera County. Though Fresno dwarfs it in both size and population, Madera saw an increase in their homeless population of 403 between the city and county from 2022 to 2023.

California had approximately 181,399 homeless people in January 2023, with 123,423 — or 68% — of them being considered unsheltered, based on HUD’s 2023 annual report on national PIT count data.

California’s homeless population also increased by 42,413 — or 30.5% — from 2007-2023. It increased by 9,878 — 0r 5.8% — from 2022-2023.

The study also showed that the Fresno Madera Continuum of Care reported 235 veterans experiencing homelessness, with 72.3% of them — or 170 — being unsheltered.

HUD classifies homeless people as unsheltered if their “primary nighttime residence…is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground.”