Point-in-Time Count & Housing Inventory Count (PIT/HIC)

This guide is developed to assist agencies with preparing for and submitting information to ICA for the 2024 PIT/HIC. The information on this page relates to the Sheltered Point in Time and Housing Inventory Counts which occur annually. Information about Unsheltered Point in Time counts is provided by individual CoCs.

Note, every project must submit its own data. If your agency has multiple projects, you will be submitting information for each project individually. If your agency has projects of different project types, or some new and some existing projects, or some HMIS-participating and some non-HMIS, you will be using different data collection tools for each project. See Data Collection Plan below for all the specifics.

Table of Contents

Alphabet soup - what are all these acronyms?

PIT Point-in-Time Count
HIC Housing Inventory Count
PDDE Project Descriptor Data Element
BUI Bed and Unit Inventory

What is the PIT and HIC?

Housing Inventory Count (HIC)

The Housing Inventory Count (HIC) is a one-time snapshot of all beds and units available to persons experiencing homelessness and in housing programs. These data are submitted to HUD and used for decisions about federal and local funding and strategic planning.

See here for HUD Resources.

What data is pulled into the HIC federal report?

The HIC focuses on Project Descriptor Data Elements. This includes:

  • Agency and Project names
  • Housing Type and Target Population
  • Operating Dates
  • Location information
  • Funding information
  • Bed Inventory

The HIC also asks for number of persons served.

Click here for more information on Program Descriptor Data Elements (PDDEs) and the Bed and Unit Inventory (BUI).

Point-in-Time Count (PIT)

The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is a one-time census of all persons experiencing homelessness and includes demographics on all persons served on the night of the count. These data are submitted to HUD and used for decisions about federal and local funding and strategic planning.
The PIT count includes data from people staying in temporary residential settings (Emergency Shelter, Safe Havens, or Transitional Housing), which is known as the Sheltered PIT, and also data from people who are staying on the streets, in their car, in abandoned buildings, or other places not meant for habitation, which is known as the Unsheltered PIT. 
This guide focuses on the Sheltered PIT. Information about Unsheltered Point in Time counts is provided directly from individual CoCs.

See here for HUD Resources.

What data is pulled into the PIT federal report?

The PIT focuses on demographic information on homeless persons. This includes:

  • Age
  • Gender
  • Race and Ethnicity 
  • Veteran Status
  • Chronic Status. This is determined from:
    • Homeless History
    • Disabling Conditions
  • Domestic Violence history

What projects does this affect?

The PIT and HIC pull data from all projects in a CoC  regardless of funding source. The chart below indicates whether the specific project type participates in each. 

Project Type PIT HIC
Street Outreach (SO) No No
Emergency Shelter (ES) - Entry/Exit (E/E) Yes Yes
Emergency Shelter (ES) - Night-by-Night (NbN) Yes Yes
Safe Haven (SH) Yes Yes
Transitional Housing (TH) Yes Yes
Rapid Rehousing (RRH) No Yes
Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) No Yes
Permanent Housing: Housing Only (PH-H) No Yes
Permanent Housing: Housing with Services (PH-S) No Yes

Data Collection

Based on solicited feedback, we have updated our PIT HIC data collection process for 2024. This year, we are trying take more of the data collection and review burden off of the agencies in order to simplify the process.

The data that needs to be collected hasn't changed, but how we collect has changed a bit.

All projects will still to report on two pieces of data
  1. Persons Served
  2. Project Descriptor and Bed Inventory information

How these two pieces of information are collected depend the project type and whether the project participates in HMIS or not.

HMIS-Participating Projects

Persons Served

ICA will run your Persons Served report directly from HMIS and send it to you for confirmation and review.

You do not need to submit anything. ICA will reach out to you and you must verify the information by Wednesday, February 7th, 2024.

You are also welcome to run the report on your own to review and clean up any data issues, even before the night of the PIT. This advance data review will reduce the work needed after PIT. 

See here for ES/SH/TH BusinessObjects Report and here for the RRH/PSH/OPH BusinessObjects Report.

Project Descriptor and Bed Inventory Information

After your Persons Served data is complete and accurate, your System Administrator will reach out to review your Project Descriptor and Bed Inventory Information. You do not need to submit anything. You can review information on Project Descriptor and Bed Inventory Information here.

This process must be completed by Thursday, February 29th, 2024.

Non-HMIS-Participating Projects

Persons Served

You will need to collect and submit your information to ICA for data quality review. 

Emergency Shelter, Safe Haven, and Transitional Housing projects will use the Self-Calculating Excel Tool

Rapid Rehousing, Permanent Supportive Housing, and Other Permanent Housing projects will use the Formstack portal.

Your Persons Served data is due to ICA by Wednesday, February 7th, 2024.

Project Descriptor and Bed Inventory Information

After your Persons Served data is complete and accurate, your System Administrator will reach out to review your Project Descriptor and Bed Inventory Information.  You do not need to submit anything. You can review information on Project Descriptor and Bed Inventory Information here.

This process must be completed by Thursday, February 29th, 2024.

Timeline

The timeline for data collection, validation, and submission for the 2024 PIT/HIC is below. Dates are subject to change.

Training Resources

Each data collection tool that projects have to complete on their own has a tipsheet, and each of those contain recorded training videos for you to watch whenever you need. See the section on Data Collection above.

Additionally, ICA held two training webinars on 1/17/24 giving a high-level overview of the PIT and HIC, what is expected, and how to find your data collection tool and how to use them. See below for slides and a recording of the webinar.

Slides from the webinar can be downloaded here.

Getting Support

We know this is a lot of information. We get it! For any questions or clarifications, we encourage you to reach out to our helpdesk (mohmis@icalliances.org) for assistance.


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