2021 Point in Time Count
The 2021 Point in Time Count Report was released on April 28, 2021, and identified 2,150 unduplicated individuals experiencing homelessness. Due to COVID-19, the 2021 PIT Count was conducted with an alternative methodology, combining in-person data from emergency shelters and navigation centers with data gathered and extrapolated from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). In-person data and HMIS data was collected on January 27, 2021.
Countywide, 26.5-percent of individuals experiencing homelessness (569 persons) had shelter, while 73.5-percent (1,581 persons) were unsheltered, sleeping in parks, empty buildings, cars and other places not meant for human habitation.
About the Point in Time (PIT) Count
The PIT Count is a single-day, nationwide count of individuals experiencing homelessness who are both sheltered and unsheltered. The PIT Count is not a census of homelessness, but provides a snapshot view. Previously, the BKRHC PIT Count combined client information from emergency shelters and navigation centers with data from in-person surveys of unsheltered individuals experiencing homelessness. Due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, BKRHC applied and was approved for an exception by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to use an alternative PIT Count methodology.
A custom HMIS report was run on January 27, 2021. After a thorough data review and additional measures to ensure data integrity, BKRHC undertook a randomized selection and sampling process. This provided BKRHC with the ability to use the HUD data extrapolation tool to move from HMIS to information regarding the entire population of individuals experiencing homelessness in Bakersfield/Kern County.
There are forty-four CoCs in California. BKRHC was one of only seven to complete a PIT Count of unsheltered persons in 2021. All others applied for waivers.