Multnomah, Washington, Clackamas counties join in second PSU led tri county Point in Time Count

Starting Thursday, Jan. 23, outreach workers, service providers and volunteers organized by Portland State University's Homelessness Research and Action Collaborative (HRAC) will manage the second ever tri-county regional Point in Time Count of homelessness.

Required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for all communities that receive Continuum of Care (CoC) funding, the Point in Time Count (PITC) provides a snapshot of part of the houseless population on a given night in Multnomah, Clackamas and Washington counties.

The three major counties of the greater Portland Metro area began cooperating on the Tri-County coordinated PITC in 2023. HRAC contributed to all phases of the 2023 Tri-County PITC and is again collaborating with the counties for all phases of the 2025 PITC. The tri-county PITC will take place from Jan. 23 to 29, with reported data of where individuals slept on Jan. 22.

"We learned so much from the successful first Tri-County Point in Time Count in 2023 and we will be able to apply those lessons this year," said Marisa Zapata, director of HRAC at Portland State.

Volunteers will work in shifts at assigned locations to reach as many neighbors experiencing homelessness as possible in Clackamas, Multnomah and Washington counties asking them where they slept the night of Jan. 22. They will also ask for demographic data that HRAC can use to develop a more comprehensive picture of who is experiencing homelessness. This data could include the individual's age, race and ethnicity, as well as how long they've experienced homelessness, if they have a disabling condition, if they are a veteran or have experienced domestic violence.

"In addition, this year we have added questions about domestic violence, intimate partner violence, stalking, and human trafficking. We are asking about when people last received homeless services, and what could have helped them stay housed," Zapata said.

"I'm grateful for our volunteer counters and homeless outreach workers who are coming together to help us get the best data possible during this year's Point in Time count," said Clackamas County Commissioner Martha Schrader. "Since the last count, Clackamas County has put a number of programs into place to prevent homelessness and move people into housing more quickly, including establishing programs for rapid rehousing, new shelters, homelessness diversion, street outreach, and strong integrations with health and mental health services. This year and in the future, the count will help us understand our community's needs and see what is working to address homelessness."

"The biennial Point In Time Count is when our region comes together to evaluate our impact so far, and how much more we have to do to make homelessness rare and brief. It takes tremendous collaboration to make the count possible, so we thank service providers and partnering jurisdictions for getting the job done, on top of the day to day work of ending homelessness," said Jes Larson, Assistant Director of Washington County's Department of Housing Services.

"Thanks to the workers and volunteers making this year's Point in Time Count possible. For Multnomah County, the Count supplements the robust data coming from our by-name list of everyone experiencing homelessness in our community," said Dan Field, director of Multnomah County's Joint Office of Homeless Services. "While no longer our main source of homelessness data, the Point in Time Count still provides an important one-night snapshot - supporting our work of understanding who is sleeping on our streets and helping them access safe shelter and housing."

An initial report of the PITC data will be turned in to the HUD this spring with a full report on the count expected in late summer.

"The PIT is a useful barometer for understanding who is houseless right now, and whether we are seeing significant changes between counts especially in terms of demographics. These details help inform policy, program, and planning," Zapata said.

HRAC released the 2024 Oregon Statewide Homelessness Estimates report earlier this week.

Public link

Please use the above public link if you want to share this noodl on another website.