City Conducts Annual Count Of Homeless Population

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Thursday night marked the annual one-night count of Chicago's homeless population.

The goal is to answer the lingering question of how the financial toll of the COVID-19 pandemic affects homelessness.

The count is conducted by 35 teams made up of volunteers for the city, several nonprofit organizations, and homeless outreach groups.

"We really strive to use data to drive all of our strategies to end homelessness in Chicago, so the count provides us with a metric that we can look to from year to year and really track – how are we doing? How are the strategies that we're implementing, the funding allocations that we're making, and the services that we're providing – how are they helping to reduce homelessness overall?" said Maura McCauley of the Chicago Department Of Family and Support Services.

Earlier Thursday night, shelters reported the number of people sleeping inside.

During the count, teams will also survey people on their specific needs.