During a 24-hour period in the last ten days of every January, homeless advocates across the nation seek to count the homeless persons within their coverage areas.  The Point in Time (PIT) Count greatly affects funding, both private and public, for homeless services and affects the methodology of those services.  A thorough count is crucial in identifying and understanding both the progress we’ve made and the gaps within our services. Mississippi Balance of State’s Count will consist of 5 Regional Coalition Counts throughout our 71-county coverage area. We believe that this would be a unique opportunity for organizations, ministries, and colleges/universities to engage our target population while providing a great service to your local community.

• When is the 24-hour PIT reference period?  Jan. 28th @12 Midnight – Jan. 29th @12 Midnight 
• How long can the surveys be conducted? January 28 – February 1st, 2019
• Who do we count? Homeless persons that are Sheltered (emergency shelter or transitional housing clients) and Unsheltered (living in place not meant for human habitation)

New for 2019: ‘Counting Us’ the Mobile PIT App!

This year, the our CoC aims to use mobile technology to complete the homeless census! The Counting Us app was developed by Simtech Solutions to help automate the data collection requirements of the annual homeless census to meet the Federal requirements and address local policy needs.

We will release more information concerning volunteer use of the mobile app in the coming weeks.

Next Steps: Become a PIT Volunteer

#1: Complete Volunteer Registration
If you or your organization would like to volunteer for the PIT Count, please submit an online volunteer form.

#2: Volunteer Orientation Videos
To prepare volunteers to count, we prepared videos that give examples of how to conduct various surveys as well as provide quick tips for a safe and successful count.

#3: Volunteer Orientation Quiz
In addition to volunteers the watching the 2018 PIT Count videos, all volunteers MUST COMPLETE the volunteer orientation quiz prior to assisting with the count.

#4: Download PIT Resources

The MS Balance of State CoC wants to prepare all its volunteers for a successful Count! We want to make the following count tools available to you. Feel free to download each tools and print as you wish! See each tool below for resource details. Please feel free to reproduce these documents and conduct sample surveys with your team and agency.