2021 Point in Time Count and Quality By Name List Announcement

6/10/21 FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Every January, communities across the nation conduct a count of people experiencing homelessness on a single night. This is called the Point in Time count (PIT) and is a way to track annual trends in partnership with Housing and Urban Development (HUD). Due to COVID-19, it was not required in 2021. The Anchorage Coalition to End Homelessness (ACEH), collected information for the 2021 PIT to better understand the impacts of COVID-19 on homelessness and changing community needs.

The 2021 PIT identifies 1319 people who were experiencing homelessness in Anchorage on January 26th, 2021. 1167 of the individuals were cared for in a shelter or transitional housing program and 152 were sleeping outside. The 2021 PIT shows an increase in homelessness over previous years. The economic effects of COVID-19 have impacted homelessness in Anchorage and across Alaska. ACEH continues to work with stakeholders to address rising homelessness.

The PIT is a limited tool for monitoring population dynamics because it only counts people in shelters, transitional housing and those sleeping outside or in cars on a single night in winter. ACEH will continue to complete the PIT in partnership with national planning and HUD. A primary goal of Anchored Home was to improve local data strategy, because solving homelessness starts with connecting stakeholders to comprehensive and accurate information about the people being served.

 ACEH, in partnership with Community Solutions and the Institute for Healthcare Improvement, has joined over 80 other communities across the United States in the Built for Zero movement. Built for Zero seeks to measurably end homelessness by ensuring that a community has the capacity to meet demand for services and uses data to inform strategy, service provision and policy. Built for Zero has helped 14 communities functionally end homelessness for a population. It starts with knowing every individual who is experiencing homelessness in our community. ACEH is proud that it has met all criteria for a quality By Name List (BNL). It can take years to achieve, and Anchorage is the first to do so for every subpopulation simultaneously. The BNL forms the backbone of the data dashboard that is available on our website. http://www.aceh.org/data

The dashboard is updated monthly and helps illustrate community need, efficacy of programs and changing trends. It is a better representation of the scope of homelessness in our community and displays critical data including: the number of people actively experiencing homelessness, how many people are new to the system, how many are returning after previously receiving services, and the total number of individuals who were housed. This achievement was possible because of the amazing homeless service providers on the front lines of a public health crisis. There are 39 programs in Anchorage who contribute information to the dashboard, the data is a testament to our community supporting those in need. ACEH will share analysis and provide information about Built for Zero in the coming months.

Press contact: Owen Hutchinson, ohutchinson@aceh.org

###