Point In Time Count
The Point-in-Time Count of Homelessness (PIT) provides a snapshot of people who are experiencing homelessness on a given night in a community.
On a single night in January 2023, 624 people experiencing homelessness were identified in Madison/Dane County on the night of the 2023 January PIT.
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87% (545 persons) were identified as using emergency shelters or transitional housing programs, while the remaining 13% (79 persons) were located in unsheltered settings.
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36% (224 persons) were in households with children, comprising 60 families.
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64% (398 persons) were in households without children (singles).
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2 unaccompanied youth under age 18 were identified.
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5% (33 persons) were young adults aged 18-24, out of which 10 were parenting youth.
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37% (230 persons) were considered chronically homeless*.
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7% (43 persons) were in households of veterans.
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13% (79 persons) stayed in unsheltered locations, including streets, vehicles, tents, or other places not suitable for human habitation, as well as Occupy Madison temporary tiny homes and Dairy Drive sheltered campgrounds.
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Notably, there was a significant overrepresentation among people of color within the homeless population. People of color accounted for 50% of all people identified as experiencing homelessness despite constituting only 16% of the Dane County population.
[1] Chronically Homeless Individual refers to an individual with a disability who has been continuously homeless for one year or more or has experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years where the combined length of time homeless in those occasions is at least 12 months. Chronically Homeless People in Families refers to people in families in which the head of household has a disability and has either been continuously homeless for one year or more or has experienced at least four episodes of homelessness in the last three years where the combined length of time homeless in those occasions is at least 12 months.
Point In Time Counts
Winter
January 2024 slides (memo to come)
January 2023
January 2022
January 2021
January 2020
January 2019
January 2018
January 2017
Summer
July 2019
July 2018
Annual Reports
Our annual reports on homeless services presents data that is entered into the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS). HMIS collects real-time data from agencies that operate nearly all of the homeless programs in Dane County. The CoC’s annual report, and data contained within it, are submitted to the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The report has been revised to coincide with changes in HUD’s reporting requirements and to align with its October 1 –September 30 fiscal year.
It is important to note that this report does not contain information about all homeless persons in the community. For example, it does not capture data about persons who are served solely by the small number of agencies or programs that don’t utilize HMIS – such as Domestic Abuse Intervention Services (DAIS), St. Vincent de Paul (Port St. Vincent de Paul & St. Elizabeth Ann Seton House) and those receiving HUD Section 8 vouchers through Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing (HUD-VASH) – or by faith communities or grassroots organizations. Nor does the report include information about those who lack stable housing but might be living with friends or family, self-paying in hotels or staying in a place not meant for human habitation and not interacting with service providers utilizing HMIS.
Annual Reports
Coordinated Entry Data
Coordinated entry is a process developed to ensure that all people experiencing a housing crisis have fair and equal access and are quickly identified, assessed for, referred and connected to housing and assistance based on their strengths and needs. When a household is identified as experiencing homelessness and they agree to a housing assessment, they are placed on the Coordinated Entry Housing Priority List.
The Coordinated Entry list provides one way to measure homelessness in our community. Please note that for the Housing Priority List, a household must be experiencing homelessness in an emergency shelter or place not meant for human habitation. The data does not provide information for people self-paying at hotels or staying with friends/family.
Additional Data Points
School districts work to identify the number of students experiencing homelessness. In Wisconsin, the Department of Public Instruction gathers that information from across the state and publishes it on their website.
The Dane County Jail asks for current address each time someone is booked into custody. They provided a list of addresses for every booking over the last few years. CoC staff identified addresses, including no address provided, that may indicate someone was experiencing homelessness at the time of booking. The data shows, that, on average, 13% of the Dane County jail annual bookings were for people presumed to be experiencing homelessness.
