Milwaukee CoC takes great care to count the total number of people experiencing literal (Category 1) homelessness on a single night in January. Milwaukee CoC’s Point in Time count covers the entire geographic area of Milwaukee County, creating an opportunity for data to be captured for all people counted experiencing homelessness on the night of Point in Time as well as different special populations of people experiencing homelessness. Efforts to annually administer the Point in Time call for longstanding collaborations with emergency shelters, all community street outreach teams, the Veterans Administration Medical Center, faith-based or other commun
ity partners opening their doors as warming rooms, countless partners from many service sectors in the community that serve the homeless, donors fulfilling basic needs for people experiencing homelessness, and community volunteers that adm
Street outreach during Point in Time
inister surveys and help prepare for the count.
Preparation for the count is extensive and managed by the CoC’s Point in Time planning committee. The Point in Time count entails surveytaking of folks experiencing homelessness, producing aggregated data that supports CoC planning efforts and evidence that the CoC’s performance merits additional funding for homeless services from the United States department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), the State of Wisconsin, and other sources of private funding. Milwaukee CoC’s significant effort to address homelessness has contributed to declines in several Point in Time count reporting metrics from 2011 to 2022. During the 2022 Point in Time count held on January 26th, 2022, 832 total persons experiencing homelessness in all settings (emergency shelter, transitional shelter, safe haven, and unsheltered) were counted in Milwaukee County. By comparison, 1,466 total persons experiencing homelessness were counted in the 2011 Point in Time count. The decrease in the overall Point in Time Count over several years can be attributed to increase in housing inventory: converting transitional housing projects to rapid rehousing projects, and creating new permanent supportive projects through reallocation or applying for new funding in CoC competitions. In 2021 and 2022, Milwaukee CoC addressed a decrease in Milwaukee’s total emergency shelter capacity due to the coronavirus pandemic by establishing socially-distanced shelter alternatives in local hotels and motels. Those staying in these designated hotel and motel settings were counted in the emergency shelter total of 663 persons during the 2022 Point in Time count. Many of those sheltered in hotel and motel settings previously stayed on the street, which may explain the decrease from 87 to 18 total counted as unsheltered in 2020 and 2022, respectively.
Milwaukee CoC Point in Time Count of the Homeless Data Summary (2011-2021)
A Point In Time overview prepared by the ICA HMIS Administrator for background information on the Point in Time Count can be found here: Point In Time Data
Milwaukee CoC Point in Time reports for all years (2005 or later) are available for the public to view on HUD’s website HERE