Homelessness in PA

Homeless Information in Pennsylvania

Homelessness continues to be an issue impacting many communities across the Commonwealth – a problem that is not just an urban issue but also can be found in even the most rural counties. On any given day, over 12,000 Pennsylvanians are known to be homeless across the Commonwealth of PA.

Across the nation, Continuums of Care (CoC) planning bodies are charged with promoting a community-wide commitment to the goal of ending homelessness; to provide funding for efforts by nonprofit providers, states, Indian Tribes or tribally designated housing entities and local governments to quickly rehouse homeless individuals, families, persons fleeing domestic violence, dating violence, sexual assault, and stalking, and youth while minimizing the trauma and dislocation caused by homelessness; to promote access to and effective utilization of mainstream programs by homeless individuals and families, and to optimize self-sufficiency among those experiencing homelessness.

In Pennsylvania, there are 16 different Continuum of Care planning bodies currently organized to end homelessness in their covered regions. Two of these CoCs are known as the Balance of State and cover 20 counties in Western PA and 33 counties in Central and Eastern PA which are known to be the most rural counties in the Commonwealth. The remaining 14 CoCs are single county planning operations which cover urban communities. Each CoC have their own policies and procedures, resources, and systems to ending homeless.

Point-in-Time Count

The Point-in-Time (PIT) Count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. HUD requires that CoCs conduct an annual count of people experiencing homelessness who are sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Safe Havens on a single night. CoCs also must conduct a count of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness every other year. Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally. This data is essential for HUD on tracking trends of homelessness from year to year which is reported to congress in the Annual Homeless Advisory Report (AHAR) and helps inform funding allocations at the national level. You can view the most recently published PIT data aggregated for the Commonwealth of PA or by individual CoC on the HUD Exchange website.