Documentation – PIT Count Dashboard

Purpose

This dashboard analyzes data from the 2019 to 2024 Point-in-Time Counts. Users can explore data by household type, subpopulation, demographics, and supervisor district. The user can also explore supplemental Point-in-Time data.

Data Source

Communities receiving federal funding for homelessness services conduct a Point-in-Time (PIT) Count of people experiencing homelessness. The PIT Count is the primary source of nationwide data on homelessness. There are two components to the Point in Time count.

1. Every year HSH collects information on people in emergency shelters and transitional housing (the sheltered count).
2. Every other year, HSH collects information about people sleeping on the streets, in cars, on abandoned properties, or on other places not meant for human habitation (the unsheltered count).

Reporting Frequency

This dashboard shows PIT data from the most recent PIT count as of Jan 30th 2024, and will be updated following the next PIT count in 2025.

Data Notes

• Data can be viewed over time by household type, for a specific measure. Data in this dashboard extends to the past 6 PIT counts from 2019 to 2024.
• Sheltered PIT counts are conducted every year, Unsheltered PIT counts are conducted every other year. The unsheltered PIT count for 2019 was postponed due to safety precautions related to COVID-19. See chart below for reference:

• Demographics such as Age, Race and Ethnicity, Gender Identity and Additional subpopulation data are available to toggle by year and by household type. Year over year changes in demographic categories are due to changes in HUD data standards for reporting. See Appendix C of the 2024 HIC and PIT data collection notice for more information about this year’s reporting requirements. Demographic data for unsheltered counts are refined using data gathered in the PIT survey. For more information on the PIT survey see appendix A of this year’s PIT report (link).
• San Francisco Supervisor district data derived from geolocation of point data recorded on the night of the PIT count and is geocoded against 2022 San Francisco Supervisor Districts.
• Data in the tabs not labelled ‘Supplemental Counts’ use data that is reported to HUD as people who are literally homeless and are experiencing homelessness on the night of the PIT count. The official Point-in-Time Count uses the HUD definition of homelessness, includes individuals and families:
  • Living in a supervised publicly or privately operated shelter designated to provide a temporary living arrangement; or
  • With a primary nighttime residence that 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.
• Data in the tabs labelled ‘Supplemental Counts’ count individuals that are not literally homeless by HUD’s definition and therefore, do not contribute to the overall PIT homelessness that is reportable to HUD. However, San Francisco serves a broader population inclusive of individuals exiting institutions like jails, hospitals, or residential facilities who were homeless prior to entry, families living in Single Room Occupancy (SRO) units, and families “doubled up” or living overcrowded in housing with one or more additional households. Each PIT count, San Francisco collects data from jails, hospitals, and residential treatment centers as well as student homelessness data from San Francsico Unified School District to demonstrate the scale of homelessness at a single point in time. Information on these supplemental counts and how the data is collected see Appendix B of this year’s PIT report (link).

Questions?

• For general inquiries, contact hshexternalaffairs@sfgov.org
• For media inquiries, contact hshmedia@sfgov.org
• For technical issues related to this dashboard, contact hshdata@sfgov.org

Key Terms and Acronyms

Comprehensive definitions terms in this dashboard can be found in the See Appendix C of the 2024 HIC and PIT data collection notice for more information about this year’s reporting requirements.

Key terms for this dashboard

Household Type:

Households without children: This includes households composed of unaccompanied adults (including unaccompanied youth age 18-24) and multiple adults (including households with multiple youth ages 18 to 24).

Households with at least one adult and one child: households with (at least) one adult (including youth ages 18 to 24) and one child, or typically referred to in San Francisco as Families with minor children.

Households with only children: households composed exclusively of persons under age 18, including one-child households, multi-child households or other household configurations composed only of children.

Veterans: Veterans include adults who have served on active duty in the Armed Forces of the United States. This does not include inactive military reserves or the National Guard unless the person was called up to active duty.

Veteran Households with one adult and one child: households composed of veterans experiencing homelessness and their household members (if applicable) for households with at least one adult and one child.

Veteran Households without children: households composed of veterans experiencing homelessness without children.

Youth: Persons under age 25. HUD collects and reports youth data based on persons under 18 and persons between ages 18 and 24.

Unaccompanied Youth: Unaccompanied youth are persons under age 25 who are not presenting or sleeping in the same place as their parent or legal guardian, any household member over age 24, or their own children. Unaccompanied youth are single youth, youth couples, and groups of youth presenting together as a household. They are a subset of households without children if all household members are 18 to 24. They are a subset of households with at least one adult and one child if the household includes at least one household member under 18, at least one member between 18 and 24, and no members over age 24. They are a subset of households with only children if all household members are under 18.

Parenting Youth: Parenting youth are youth who identify as the parent or legal guardian of one or more children who are present with or sleeping in the same place as that youth parent, where there is no person over age 24 in the household. Parenting youth are either a subset of households with at least one adult and one child if the parenting youth is between 18 and 24, or households with only children if the parenting youth is under 18.

Measures:

People experiencing Chronic Homelessness: A person who:

• A. Is homeless and lives in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency shelter; and
• B. Has been homeless and living or residing in a place not meant for human habitation, a safe haven, or in an emergency shelter continuously for at least 1 year or on at least four separate occasions in the last 3 years where the combined length of time homeless in those occasions is at least 12 months; and
• C. Has a disability.

Disability: An individual with one or more of the following conditions:

• A. A physical, mental, or emotional impairment, including an impairment caused by alcohol or drug abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, or brain injury that:
  • (1) Is expected to be long-continuing or of indefinite duration;
  • (2) Substantially impedes the individual's ability to live independently; and
  • (3) Could be improved by the provision of more suitable housing conditions.
• B. A developmental disability, as defined in section 102 of the Developmental Disabilities Assistance and Bill of Rights Act of 2000 (42 U.S.C. 15002); or
• C. The disease of Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome (AIDS) or any condition arising from the etiologic agency for Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome

Adults with HIV/AIDS: includes adults who have been diagnosed with AIDS and/or have tested positive for HIV.

Adults with a Serious Mental Illness (SMI): includes adults with a severe and persistent mental illness or emotional impairment that seriously limits a person's ability to live independently. Adults with SMI must also meet the qualifications identified in the term for “disability” (e.g., “is expected to be long-continuing or indefinite duration”).

Adults with a Substance Use Disorder: includes adults with a substance abuse problem (alcohol abuse, drug abuse, or both). Adults with a substance use disorder must also meet the qualifications identified in the term for “disability” (e.g., “is expected to be long continuing or indefinite duration”).

Survivors of Domestic Violence: includes adults who are currently experiencing homelessness because they are fleeing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, or stalking.