COVID impacts 2021 Point in Time homeless count

Every January, a team of staff and volunteers from Clark County counts the number of individuals who are homeless in the county on a specific day. This Point in Time (PIT) count, coordinated by the Council for the Homeless, offers a snapshot of the county’s homeless population. However, due to restrictions on the count imposed by the pandemic, the 2021 count presents a somewhat different picture of this population than did previous PIT reports.

Only individuals who are sheltered (those living in a designated temporary or emergency shelter or transitional housing) were counted in the 2021 project, as a result of the CFTH’s concerns for the safety and health of those counting and those being counted. In previous years, the total number of people who are homeless on the count date included people who are sheltered and those living “unsheltered” in a place not meant for human habitation. This could be a car, a tent, sidewalk, or a trailer with no running water or electricity.