PLACER COUNTY, Calif. — Placer County conducted its official point-in-time count for people experiencing homelessness on Thursday.
A point-in-time count is a snapshot from a single day and is typically seen as an undercount of a community's homeless population, according to Placer County.
The last official point-in-time count was in January 2019 because of setbacks and extensions due to COVID-19, according to Jazmin Breaux, a board member of the Housing Resource Council of the Sierras (HRCS). The point-in-time count was canceled for 2021.
Although a full point-in-time count happens every two years, Placer County has opted to do a full count annually.
"Homelessness is a community issue. It's not a government issue. It's not a county issue. It's a community issue." said Breaux.
HRCS is a nonprofit that works towards preventing and ending homeless in Placer and Nevada County.
A point-in-time count is one indicator of how a community has made progress in addressing homelessness, but it's not the only data the county uses, according to Breaux, who is also a program manager with Health and Human Services for Placer and Nevada County.
HRCS also uses a homeless management information system, which is used as a case management tool and keeps track of people entering and exiting homelessness throughout the year.
Although the county didn't do a full official count in 2021, Breaux said the county did a modified count using the management information system to get an idea of who is experiencing homelessness.
"Those data points are important because when you're designing homeless services, you want to know who is experiencing homelessness so that you can provide them with the correct intervention," Breaux said.
A range of different services are needed to accommodate a spectrum of people who are experiencing homelessness, and understanding what situations people are experiencing helps the county understand what services are needed.
In the Tahoe and Truckee region where Breaux is based, she said does not have long-term shelters like in western Placer County.
But, there are multiple weather conditions that could trigger a warming center to open in the region, including temperatures being 15 degrees or lower.
"If we operated on 30 degrees or colder, we would be open every single night and our local capacity up here has not been where we're able to operate at that level," Breaux said.
Breaux said they have been expanding services in the Tahoe and Truckee region including a drop-in center that's open three days during the week.
Service providers in the area do recommend services in other parts of the county that may be able to accommodate longer-term shelters, but Breaux said it doesn't work for everyone.
"The environment in the higher density areas like Auburn and Roseville doesn't work for them," Breaux said. "And also a lot of people that are unhoused in our community have lived here for many many years and so to leave a community that they are part of and that they love to go to a place that is crowded and they don't know anyone — and you know a lot of people don't want to leave and they figured out ways to live up here."
Resources
- Homeless Resource Helpline Nevada County: Call 2-1-1
- Homeless Resource Helpline Placer County: Call 2-1-1 or call (833) 375-2237
- North Auburn shelter operation-related questions: Call 530-885-8108
- Learn more about housing vouchers in Placer County HERE
- Learn more about housing programs in Placer County HERE
- Learn more about whole person care HERE
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