By Eric Grumdahl, Policy Director for the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness

Each year, HUD requires Continuums of Care (CoCs) to count the number of people experiencing homelessness in the geographic area that they serve through the Point-in-Time count (PIT). Conducted by most CoCs during the last ten days in January, the PIT count includes people served in shelter programs every year. In addition, every odd-numbered year, CoCs are responsible for counting people who are unsheltered, mobilizing staff and volunteers who canvas the streets and other settings to identify and enumerate people experiencing homelessness. 

Data collected during the PIT count is critical to effective planning and performance management toward the goal of ending homelessness for each community and for the nation as a whole. Counting those who are unsheltered ensures that many of the people with the highest needs are taken into account in community planning.  In fact, the benefit of conducting a comprehensive count that includes an unsheltered count is so significant that many communities do so every year, including Boston, Denver, Miami, New Orleans, Orlando, Philadelphia, San Diego, and many others.

Now is the time to get involved. Many CoCs have already begun planning for their next count. Everyone interested in participating in the upcoming 2014 Point-in-Time count should engage the CoC points of contact for their geographic region(s). These can be found on HUD's OneCPD Resource Exchange. For many communities, the count represents a great opportunity to engage volunteers in local efforts to end homelessness.

By Sunia Zaterman, Executive Director of the Council of Large Public Housing Authorities

In this speech delivered at the Georgia Supportive Housing Association annual conference, USICH Policy Director Richard Cho discusses the importance of breaking down silos between sectors and systems to end homelessness. He discusses how permanent supportive housing embodies the notion of "silo-busting" and creating inter-subjectivity between sectors, and challenges the State of Georgia to create a supportive housing policy for all-people with disabilities under the Olmstead community integration mandate, people experiencing chronic homelessness, and people with chronic health conditions leaving correctional settings.

In order to house everyone, we need to tear down some walls. If we want to make sure that everyone in America, especially those who are most vulnerable, have a safe and stable place to call home, we must break down silos and work across sectors, systems, and even the policy and population constructs under which we operate. 

This idea of breaking down silos underpins the very premise of USICH.  USICH's role is not to be the sole Federal department responsible for ending homelessness, but rather, to foster a sense of shared responsibility across the 19 Federal agencies that make up our Council, and build collaborative solutions across department boundaries.  The thread of breaking down of silos runs through Opening Doors, the Federal strategic plan to end homelessness. 

Supportive housing is a testament to the power of inter-subjectivity and a powerful, silo-busting tool.  It's why increasing supportive housing is a key objective of Opening Doors and a centerpiece of our strategy for ending chronic homelessness and a key part of efforts by numerous states including Georgia to comply with the Olmstead community integration mandate for people with disabilities and an increasing part of State and community efforts to ensure that people leaving prisons and jails are able to stay in the community and avoid returns to incarceration. 

We need to take that silo-busting inter-subjectivity to the next level and fully realize the potential of supportive housing as a tool for solving all of the complex social problems that affect vulnerable people who need housing and services to achieve stability, dignity and independence.  The time is now to tear down the walls between our separate efforts and create a unified statewide supportive housing policy and plan focused on addressing the needs of all.

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