2010 News
December 29, 2010
Bucks County Housing Coalition to Conduct Countywide “Point In Time” Homeless Count
The Bucks County Housing Coalition (BCHC) plans to conduct a countywide “Point in Time” count of the Unsheltered Homeless on Wednesday, January 26, 2011. This count will be part of an annual nationwide initiative of the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to assess the extent and characteristics of homelessness across the country. Since 2008, this will be the fourth such survey conducted in Bucks County. The Point in Time count serves as the primary source of data locally and nationally to understand homelessness trends and to track progress on efforts to prevent and end homelessness for all communities. To that end, it is extremely important to have a complete and accurate count.
During the course of the survey, efforts are taken by the survey teams to reach out to homeless individuals and families and provide links to services and to immediate shelter.
In addition to the unsheltered homeless survey, the BCHC will also conduct a survey of those who are homeless but sheltered on the same day. This will provide a more complete picture of homelessness in Bucks County and provide information to design services and programs to combat homelessness at all levels.
The success of this survey - both of those who are homeless and without shelter - depends greatly on identifying those locations where individuals are known to live and/or congregate. Survey organizers welcome any information from community members to identify locations where homeless individuals may have been observed or are suspected of living. Anyone with information regarding potential survey sites is urged to contact Bucks County staff members Deb Neidhardt 215-444-2876 dpneidhardt@co.bucks.pa.us or Scott Griffith 215-345-3840 at sgriffith@co.bucks.pa.us