Introduction to Homelessness Point-in-Time Count

Homelessness Point-in-Time Count can be used to enlist community volunteers to conduct point-in-time counts and understand the extent of homelessness in a community.

Homelessness is a complex problem brought on by the lack of affordable housing, unemployment, and the lack of mental health and addiction services. It is a human tragedy that is straining social resources and many government budgets. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities to regularly conduct point-in-time (PIT) counts of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness. The counts ensure funding is directed to communities and services that need it most. At the local level, point-in-time counts help organizations plan programs and measure progress decreasing homelessness. Understanding where homelessness is impacting the community helps organizations direct services, funding, and resources to those in need.

The Homelessness Point-in-Time Count solution delivers a set of capabilities that help Continuums of Care (CoC) enlist community volunteers to conduct point-in-time counts, manage participating volunteers, understand the extent of homelessness, and share point-in-time count reports with stakeholders.

Deploy the solution

This ArcGIS solution can be deployed in your ArcGIS organization.

Deploy the solution

See Deploying a solution for more information.

Requirements

Homelessness Point-in-Time Count requires the following:

• ArcGIS Online
• ArcGIS Hub Premium
• ArcGIS Survey123

Information products

Homelessness Point-in-Time Count includes the following information products:

Item	Description	Required user type
Homelessness Point-in-Time Count	An ArcGIS Hub site used by the public to learn about the homelessness point-in-time count, volunteering opportunities, and provides information for approved volunteers on an internal page.	Not required
Point-in-Time Count Volunteer Manager	An ArcGIS Experience Builder app used by point-in-time count coordinators to manage assignment areas, assign volunteers and monitor volunteers check ins.	Creator
Point-in-Time Count Volunteer Notebook	An ArcGIS Notebooks app used by point-in-time coordinators to grant approved volunteers access to the Homelessness Point-in-Time Count survey and internal Hub page.	Creator
Point-in-Time Count Volunteer Application	An ArcGIS Survey123 form used by the public to enroll as volunteers in the Point-in-Time Count.	Community Identity
Point-in-Time Count Volunteer Check in	An ArcGIS Dashboards app used by deployment site staff to manage volunteer check ins.	Contributor
Point-in-Time Count	An ArcGIS Survey123 form used by volunteers and outreach workers to conduct sheltered, and unsheltered homelessness surveys.	Community Identity
Point-in-Time Count	An ArcGIS Dashboards app used by directors visualize point-in-time count results so to understand the extent of homelessness.	Viewer
HUD Report	An ArcGIS Notebooks app used by the Point-in-Time Coordinator to generate a homelessness point-in-time count report for the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).	Creator

When you deploy this solution in your ArcGIS organization, you also get an ArcGIS solution item that organizes the key information products and summarizes all the ArcGIS items (applications, forms, projects, maps, feature layers, feature layer views, and so on) included with the solution. The ArcGIS solution item also illustrates any dependencies items have on each other.

Release notes

The following are the release notes:

Version	Description
3.0 (Jun 2024)	The solution name has been changed from Homelessness Point-in-Time Counts to Homelessness Point-in-Time Count. The solution now includes several new apps to support volunteering workflows: Homelessness Point-in-Time Count ArcGIS Hub site, Point-in-Time Count Volunteer Application ArcGIS Survey123 form, Point-in-Time Count Volunteer Manager ArcGIS Experience Builder app, and Point-in-Time Count Volunteer Notebook. The HUD Report notebook, Point-in-Time Count dashboard, and Point-in-Time Count form have been updated to support modified questions, based on the HUD 2023 Point-in-Time count data standards and other minor enhancements. The Point-in-Time Count form now includes Spanish as an option. The solution now includes a series of new Homelessness Point-in-Time Count maps, feature layers and feature layer views.
2.3 (Nov 2023)	A new HUD Report notebook that resolves an issue in which the survey records for Asian American and American Indian or Alaskan Native were not being calculated accurately (BUG-000157330). Reference documentation topics for this release
2.2 (Jun 2023)	An update to the HUD Report and Homelessness Counts form to support modified age questions, based on the HUD 2022 Point-in-Time count data standards. A new Homelessness Count Dashboard.
2.1 (Apr 2022)	Name changed from Homeless Point-in-Time Counts to Homelessness Point-in-Time Counts. All layers, map, apps, and projects have been updated to use the term homelessness instead of homeless. A new Homelessness Count Dashboard. An update to the Homelessness Counts form and supporting layers to permit changes to the form.
2.0 (Nov 2021)	An update to the Homeless Counts form to support modified demographic questions, based on the HUD 2022 Point-in-Time count data standards. A new Homeless Count Dashboard. A new HUD Report notebook that supports the updated data standards.
1.1 (Feb 2021)	A new version of the HUD Report notebook that resolves an issue in which the point in-time observations were not calculated.
1.0 (Nov 2020)	The first release of Homeless Point-in-Time Counts.