The timeline for processing this year’s final point-in-time count data — the annual count of people experiencing homelessness — is unclear because of chaos at the federal level, and the work may fall on local agencies to complete.
The Lawrence-based Kansas Statewide Homeless Coalition shared the message with state agencies on Wednesday.
The point-in-time count is a count of people experiencing homelessness in a single day each January. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development mandates that each continuum of care nationwide conduct the count at least every other year.
The counts, though imperfect, are intended to get an estimate of the numbers of people who are unhoused in a community, whether they’re sleeping outside or staying in emergency shelter or transitional housing. They help to inform decisions about funding and policies, and to identify gaps in services.
Local volunteers and outreach employees conduct the PIT count, but HUD provides core data services to process PIT data and approve it for official release. “This process is time consuming, and it is not uncommon for the federal process to extend into the fall before data is officially approved,” according to the KSHC message. Official data for 2024 was released in August.
This year, however, “Considering the significant changes presently underway at the federal level, we will apprise the community of any changes we are made aware of that might affect the processing of the 2025 PIT data and a timeline for its approval for release,” according to the message.
The Trump administration has proposed significant cuts to HUD staff, though the ultimate impact — like many other areas of the federal government — remains unclear.
“If the federal department of HUD is unable to provide the data services to finalize and approve PIT information for release, the Kansas Balance of State Continuum of Care will take action to develop internal capacity to process the data to make it available for release,” the message continued.
The message also asked communities not to release data under the name of the point-in-time count before it is finalized as “Such actions can create confusion among the public and may contradict the HUD-approved numbers,” according to the message.
The City of Lawrence already released partial, unofficial numbers in February. People experiencing sheltered homelessness in Douglas County rose to 184 from 136, and people experiencing unsheltered homelessness dropped to 43 from 142 this year.
Those numbers are only part of the PIT count total, which will come later. These counts only include the 227 people who were unsheltered or staying in emergency shelter at the Lawrence Community Shelter or one of the city’s overflow winter shelter sites; verified numbers will also include people living in transitional housing.
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Nathan Kramer / Lawrence Times
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