City of Chicago conducts annual count of everyone experiencing homelessness
CHICAGO (CBS) -- More than 250 people walked designated routes through the city Thursday night for a physical count everyone who is experiencing homelessness — including everyone in shelters.
On Thursday night, dozens of volunteers filled the Department of Family and Support Services Command Center in West Town to learn what it takes to get the count done.
"You do it selflessly, and then you do it, of course in the cold," Mayor Brandon Johnson told the volunteers. "You do it at night, sacrifice your time with your family to make sure there are other families out there who know that there's a system of care that we have built."
The Point-in-Time, or PIT, count, and it happens once a year. The city Department of Family and Support Services said the count is really important this year.
"They will survey those individuals, and then they will count people they just observe," said acting Department of Family and Support Services Commissioner Maura McCauley.
Federal funding is contingent on the snapshot the count provides.
"It really is a call to action that it takes all levels of government and significant investments from our community and neighbors to help end homelessness," McCauley said.
The count helps the department's mission going forward on many fronts.
"It gives us a good benchmark to look at like emerging trends, the service needs to people. It helps us guide our resource allocation. It helps us see if the strategies that we're working with our partners to implement to end homelessness are making a difference and how," McCauley said.
Every team conducting the count gets a bag of snacks and hygiene kids to give out. McCauley explained whom the count is set to find out about.
"It focuses on a very specific experience of homelessness," she said, "people who are living in shelters, sleeping in shelter tonight, and people who are sleeping in unsheltered locations like under viaducts, in the streets, in parks."
David Wywialowski with the Night Ministry was among the volunteers for the count.
"Our teams will go out on the street to count anyone outside, or maybe in a 24-hour Dunkin' Donuts or McDonald's," he said.
Wywialowski has participated in previous counts, and is well aware of how important they are for determining federal funding.
"Part of our team is going to be counting on the CTA, and they are going to see a lot of numbers there," he said.
The Night Ministry said the count will not include people in abandoned buildings or those living with someone else. The count represents a small snapshot, and does not capture individuals who cycle in and out of homelessness during the year.
Last year, the number of Chicagoans living in city shelters or on city streets tripled — largely driven by the number of migrants in city shelters. A total of 18,836 people experiencing homelessness in 2024, compared with 6,139 in 2023, and 3,875 in 2022.
A total of 1,634 people lived outside shelters last year, representing a 65% increase in unsheltered people.
How will this year stack year up?
With the One System Initiative now in place — the merging of homeless shelters and migrant shelters — there will be no separation of migrant shelter numbers. But it is known that migrant shelters numbers have decreased.
"Behind every number are real people," McCauley said, "real Chicagoans who have experienced trauma, have experienced loss, and don't necessarily know where they're going to find a place to sleep tonight."
The city noted that it is not collecting information on anyone's immigration status during the count. However, the survey being given out during the count does include questions about country of birth — and where a person entered the U.S. if born elsewhere. An individual can also identify "seeking asylum/migration to the US" as a cause contributing to their loss of housing, the city said.
The city emphasized that the surveys are optional, and the data are only reported on an aggregate level.
Meanwhile, this is also the first year Sendy Soto is on board for this count. Soto is the very first chief homelessness officer for the city of Chicago, and she said this count will be very important to her five-year plan.
"Well, I definitely want to ensure the city gets as much funding as it can from the federal government by demonstrating an accurate number of people sheltered and unsheltered," Soto said. "We have big plans underway to ensure we have a holistic approach and a full force of government approach when it comes to this issue."
The city officially began working on the count of the homeless outside shelters at 10 p.m. Thursday. Crews will work through Friday morning.
Trained volunteers and outreach staff will be dispatched from four locations managed by Department of Family and Support Services partners who provide daily street outreach. Those locations are:
- Renaissance Social Services, 2501 W. Washington Blvd.
- Thresholds, 4101 N. Ravenswood Ave.
- The Night Ministry, 1735 N. Ashland Ave.
- Featherfist, 2255 E. 75th St.
Other data collected by Chicago to estimate homelessness
The city explained that it also uses other data points besides the Point in Time Count to understand and estimate homelessness. One such data source is the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), which the city described as a database that collects information on people experiencing homelessness and what kind of housing and homeless services they receive — in line with the requirements of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
All homeless services funded by the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services are required to report in the HMIS except for programs dedicated to survivors of domestic violence.
A live dashboard is available with key metrics from HMIS data.
The Chicago Continuum of Care also releases a system goals report providing information on the performance of the city's homeless services system up against goals.
In addition, the city uses estimates from the Chicago Coalition to End Homelessness and Chicago Public Schools Students in Temporary Living Situations for data.
Further details on estimates on homelessness can be found on pages 10-13 of the city's latest Annual Report on Homelessness.
