Balance of State
Metro Denver
Northern Colorado
Pikes Peak
Colorado Department of Local Affairs
For the sheltered count, CoCs includes all
individuals and families living in shelters that
provide temporary living arrangements (including
congregate shelters, transitional housing, and
hotels and motels paid for by charitable
organizations or by federal, state, or local
government programs). The unsheltered count
includes those with a primary nighttime residence
that is not designed for human habitation,
including a car, park, bus or train station, camping
ground, or abandoned building. In odd years,
CoCs are required to conduct both unsheltered
and sheltered counts. Even years only require a
sheltered count, but CoCs often choose to do
both. Due to the pandemic, CoCs that conducted
an unsheltered count in 2020 were able to opt out
of the 2021 count, and only the Balance of State
region conducted an unsheltered count in 2021.
The Balance of State region did not do an
unsheltered count in 2022, so HUD carried over
the figure from the previous year.
The US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that states use a Continuum of
Care (CoC) model to support nonprofit and government efforts to actively work towards preventing and
ending homelessness. A CoC is a planning and resource coordination body that supports the provision of
housing and services for families and individuals experiencing homelessness. CoCs collect data, bring
together leaders working on homelessness, provide guidelines for service delivery, and coordinate
resources for direct services like permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, outreach, and shelter.
Each CoC is required to conduct an annual Point in Time (PIT) Count of individuals and families meeting
the HUD definition of homelessness on a single night, along with demographic characteristics. Although
the PIT is a valuable tool that provides a snapshot of homelessness, it is not a perfect tool and is almost
certainly an underestimate of the unhoused population. The 2023 point in time count was conducted on
January 30 during a 24-hour period among Colorado's four CoCs:
Metro Denver Homeless Initiative - Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, City of Aurora, Denver,
Douglas, and Jefferson counties
Northern Colorado - Larimer and Weld counties
Pikes Peak - El Paso county
Balance of State Region - 27 of the 54 non-metro and rural counties (fluctuates year-to-year)
POINT IN TIME COUNT (PIT): BACKGROUND AND METHODOLOGY
PIT counts are important because they are the only count conducted nationally each year, they provide data to
quantify the scope of homelessness on one night, and they help national, state, and local policymakers track
progress and allocate funding towards the goal of ending homelessness. In addition, the count helps identify
trends and service needs, and allows for volunteers to connect with the homeless community and generate
awareness. It is important to recognize that despite their importance, Point in Time counts also have limitations
and should not be the only metric used to understand the population of people experiencing homelessness.