2022 Point In Time Count Report Released
The Point in Time Count (PIT Count) is a federally mandated census count from the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), to be completed biennially by each Continuum of Care across the United States. The PIT Count provides a snapshot of all those experiencing homelessness in our shelters, streets, beaches, cars, or other places not meant for human habitation. The PIT Count is vital for establishing federal funding from HUD as well as State, local and private funding to help end homelessness on O‘ahu. Although the PIT Count report represents a snapshot at one point in time, it provides us an opportunity to look at the trends and demographics of those experiencing homelessness in our community on a single night and across multiple years of Counts.
“Partners In Care is so grateful for all of the volunteers that came out to support the PIT Count. We had over 350 people help with this year’s PIT Count, which started at 5am. Thank you to all of the outreach providers who coordinated the different regions and to everyone who donated items for the incentive kits. This is a community effort.” - Heather Lusk, Chair, Partners In Care – O’ahu Continuum of Care, Executive Director, Hawai’i Health and Harm Reduction (H3RC)
Due to COVID-19 the 2021 PIT Count was canceled, making this year’s Count even more important. On the morning of March 9th, 2022, a total of 3,951 individuals were counted, compared to 4,448 individuals in 2020. This equates to an 11% decrease in the total population counted. There was also a significant drop in the number of individuals counted in shelters in 2022 (1,596) as compared to 2020, when 2,102 individuals were counted in shelters. This may be due to a decrease in shelter beds caused by closures and COVID-19 restrictions. Another significant decrease was seen in families with minor children, which has decreased by 60% since 2015. This decrease is likely in response to a focus on families with children over the years. Significant statistics for our Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander populations show that while they make up approximately 10% of the total population on O’ahu, they represent more than 35% of those experiencing homelessness.
While HUD does not include the number and demographics of people who are experiencing homelessness and residing in hospitals or emergency departments at the time of the PIT Count, we have included this data in our community report in order for us to create a more accurate data set and include these individuals that would otherwise go uncounted. In partnership with Queen’s Medical Center (QMC) and Queen’s Medical Center West, we had the opportunity to gather demographics on the 48 individuals staying in these two entities on the morning of the PIT Count, 69% of which are classified as chronically homeless individuals.
Mahalo nui to all volunteers and community members who supported this year’s Count!
