An annual effort to tally number of people living on the streets in Riverside County was canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic, it was announced Monday.
The 2021 Point-in-Time Homeless Count, typically held at the end of January, was nixed due to virus-related safety concerns for volunteers, staff and the unsheltered residents themselves, according to the Department of Public Social Services.
The agency also noted how the governor’s stay-at-home order, coupled with a lack of staff and volunteer capacity, could infringe on the possibility of conducting an accurate count.
The effort is key to understanding how many homeless or housing-insecure residents live within Riverside County, and the nation. The data is used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine how to distribute federal funding, and by policymakers in determining the scope of homelessness nationwide — including what’s working, and what’s not.
Last year, the survey found Riverside County’s homeless population increased by nearly 3% from the previous year, but that the number of chronically homeless people dropped by 27%.
More than 800 volunteers and staff participated in the most recent effort, according to the DPSS. The general count is held over the course of a single morning, while a count specifically targeting children affected by homelessness occurs over several days.
Additional information about the survey is available at rchi.cs.ucr.edu/.