MDHI Will Not Count Denver’s Unhoused in 2021 Point In Time Count
By Robert Davis
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The Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI) announced on January 22 that it will not conduct an unsheltered count as a part of this year’s Point in Time Count.
MDHI will still conduct a sheltered count, as required by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), but it pushed back the date from January 25 to February 25 for COVID-19 safety precautions.
“After careful consideration, the Metro Denver Homeless Initiative (MDHI), who oversees the PIT process for the region, has made the decision to not conduct an unsheltered count this year due to COVID-19. Ensuring the safety of both those staying outdoors and volunteers is our top priority,” Jamie Rifle, CEO of MDHI said in a statement.
One reason for the cancellation is that the survey requires volunteers to do more than simply count unhoused persons. Volunteers also must ask a series of questions that help identify populations and subpopulations of people experiencing homelessness. Questions include each person’s age, disability, mental health status, and whether they receive public benefits.
People are counted in the survey if they are staying in cars, parks, abandoned buildings, transit stations, or any other place not meant for human habitation.
Communities are concerned that the count could increase the transmission of the virus as well. Because of this, MDHI applied and was approved for a waiver from HUD. Other cities like Seattle, Los Angeles, and San Diego were also approved. MDHI’s waiver was approved on January 21.
Data collected during the counts helps HUD and its continuums of care understand what it’s like to experience modern homelessness. It is also used by local lawmakers to allocate federal grant funding toward local homeless service providers.
Last year, MDHI and its volunteers counted 4,171 people during the PIT Count. In turn, HUD granted The City of Denver $32,659,357 in Community Development Block Grants, Emergency Services Grants, the HOME Investment Partnership Program, and Housing Opportunities for Persons with AIDS (HOPWA) grants, according to HUD data.
Some homeless service providers see the pause as an opportunity to evaluate the count and come up with a better way to understand homelessness in a particular place.
Benjamin Dunning, an activist with Denver Homeless Out Loud (DHOL), say the PIT Count is riddled with errors from relying on a continuum of care’s capacity to recruit and train volunteers. On top of that, some people don’t want to admit they’re homeless while others choose to stay hidden.
“Perhaps this interruption from the pandemic is an opportunity to build a better way of learning just how many people are experiencing homelessness and identifying the issues they struggle with. Or perhaps we just chuck the whole thing and build housing instead. Then, we would not need all the services that compete for dollars using PIT data,” Dunning told The Denver Voice.
In July 2020, volunteers with DHOL performed a “tent count” to supplement the 2020 PIT Count findings. Volunteers visited 30 encampments across Denver and counted a total of 664 tents, many of which housed more than two people.
The “tents” were further broken down into 590 tents, 46 non-tent dwellings like tarp covers, and 28 vehicles. DHOL estimated there were a total of 1,328 individuals living in tents without housing.
MDHI contracted with a California-based company called Applied Survey Research to develop a more efficient and informed process for conducting the PIT Count. The new approach would allow volunteers to partner with an expert with lived experience during the counts. People who have experienced homelessness will also help the organization plan for future surveying projects.
While Dunning says DHOL does not currently have plans to perform another tent count, he says the data a similar count provides would go a long way to helping local leaders understand the problem they are trying to solve.
“We would be interested in the results of such a count and hopeful that such account could be done often to help get a better understanding of how fast homelessness is growing,” he said.