(The Center Square) – Cities across the country are counting their homeless in an effort to get a handle on how big the problem is.
In the city of Detroit , 25 teams of volunteers will count the number of homeless throughout the city on Jan. 31.
In Denver, 25 teams counted homeless on Jan. 22.
The “Point-In-Time” tracking occurs in January every year and is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, which uses the information when determining federal funding.
In California, two cities have created departments to deal with the issue.
The city of San Francisco established a Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing in 2016, and it was budgeted for $150.6 million in 2017. By 2023, that department’s budget had more than doubled to $309.6 million, according to city documents .
Voters approved the funding for homelessness services in 2017.
As stated in the original documents , in 2016, Proposition J created a homeless housing and services fund that would provide services to the homeless, programs to prevent homelessness, and assistance when transitioning from homelessness, allocating $50 million each year for 24 years.