Point in Time 2025

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​If you want to help plan the PIT, volunteer to participate in the overnight street count, or have questions about the PIT in your community, please contact your local coalition PIT Lead here.
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If you have questions, comments or concerns related to the WI BoS PIT count, please contact Kate Markwardt or Carrie Poser.
To submit local news coverage about the Point in Time Count, please send to
Kate Markwardt.
Overview of Point in Time (PIT) Activity
WHAT
A Point-In-Time, or PIT, is a statistically reliable, unduplicated count of people experiencing homelessness during a designated one-night period.  Wisconsin conducts this count twice per year in January and July.
WHEN
  • Overnight Street Count/Known Location Count start:
    • ​PIT cannot start before 11:00 pm on WEDNESDAY, JULY 23rd, 2025.
  • Overnight Street Count/Known Locations Count End:
    • ​PIT Count must end no later than 6:00 AM on THURSDAY, JULY 24th 2025
  • Service Based Post-Count End:
    • ​The post-PIT survey process begins at 6:00 am on THURSDAY, JULY 24th, 2025, and ends WEDNESDAY, JULY 30th, 2025, at 5:00 pm.
WHY
A PIT is intended to capture a minimum amount of information on the homeless population in order to create a "snapshot" of what homelessness looks like in a neighborhood, city or state.  The data collected through the Point-in-Time process is reported in the Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (AHAR) that is provided to the US Congress.  Homeless information is also reported to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and is utilized to develop the Housing Inventory Chart for the Balance of State Continuum of Care.
WHO
This count is intended to include persons that are homeless and are staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing, safe havens for the homeless, domestic violence shelters, or who are unsheltered living on the street, or any other place not meant for human habitation.
WHERE
All across the state of Wisconsin and across the country, the PIT is conducted by volunteers.

2025 Documents

2025 Unsheltered PIT Survey
2025 Unsheltered Survey INSTRUCTIONS
​2025 Unsheltered Observation form

These will be provided to the PIT Leads.

PIT Volunteer Mileage In-Kind Form
PIT Volunteer Time In-Kind Form
HIC- Housing Inventory Change Form
​WI Balance of State HIC Guide- ​reach out to Kate or Adam for this resource.
WI Balance of State PIT Data Guide-reach out to Kate or Adam for this resource 
Point in Time (PIT) Methodology Guide- in development

Point in Time Training Series

PIT Process & Planning, Session 1
This webinar goes over the nuts and bolts of PIT methodology and any changes that have occurred with the process.  Things that are covered include planning, such as who should participate, when should you go out, where should you go, how to count, changes to the survey forms, etc.  Topics like after hours plan, the role of the SSO and importance of match collection are also covered.
Reach out to Kate or Adam for the recording or any resources.
Resources
PIT Training #1 Slide Deck
COVID Safety Measures
PIT 2022 Instructions

HMIS & PIT Data, Session 2 *includes staff from ICA
This webinar is about all things PIT and HMIS.  ICA staff review how to run reports in Clarity, collect data and how to clean up common errors.
Reach out to Kate or Adam for the recording or any resources.
Resources
BOS PIT Training HMIS Resources

Putting it all Together- Session 3
This looks at the Non-HMIS form, Deduplication Chart, HMIS data and Post PIT survey and how it all fits together. 
Reach out to Kate or Adam for the recording or any resources.
Resources
PIT Training #3 Slide Deck

Community Partner and Post PIT Survey
This training covers everything you need to know about the Post PIT Count such as what it is, who should be included, how to do the count, how to determine if someone is homeless if they are sleeping in ambiguous sleeping locations, and the PIT surveys.  This is a good webinar to share with partners outside of the homeless services system to expand your Post PIT count. 
Reach out to Kate or Adam for the recording or any resources.
Resources
Community Partner and Post PIT County Slide Deck

NEW in 2024
​PIT Lead Training
This training is required for all PIT leads across the BOS . It covers the overview of the process, requirements of the position, and timeline of events.
Reach out to Kate or Adam for the recording or any resources.
Resources
PIT Lead Training Slide Deck
Recording

​Non-HMIS, Deduplication and Observation Only Forms refresher 
This training is a refresher about common missing information on the Non-HMIS form and a few changes to the Deduplication Chart and the Observation Only Form process.
Resources
Reach out to Kate or Adam for the recording or any resources.

Housing Inventory Chart (HIC) Training
This training goes through the HIC in detail. There is also a HIC Guide that is included with this training. The Housing Inventory Chart is a requirement of HUD for the Continuum of Care (CoC) to have.  It is essentially a live inventory of all beds and units in the CoC dedicated for those experiencing homelessness at any given time.  The HIC includes the following project types:  Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, Permanent Supportive Housing, Other Permanent Supportive Housing (this is permanent housing for those experiencing homelessness but without the requirement of disability), Safe Haven, and Rapid Rehousing.  All projects with beds dedicated to those experiencing homelessness regardless of whether the project uses HMIS or receives Federal/State funding.
Resources
Reach out to Kate or Adam for the recording or any resources.

PIT Safety Training *new in 2024*
PIT Training:  Making Connections  

This training will assist those conducting the street count how to safely and appropriately engage someone experiencing homelessness using body language and non-verbal communication skills, what to do if someone gets hostile, how to best complete the survey and how to end the interaction. 
Resources
Slides 
Reach out to Kate or Adam for the recording or any resources.

The WI Balance of State has 2 helpful guides:

  • Reach out to Kate or Adam for these resources.
  • WI Balance of State HIC Guide
    • The Housing Inventory Chart is a requirement of HUD for the Continuum of Care (CoC) to have.  It is essentially a live inventory of all beds and units in the CoC dedicated for those experiencing homelessness at any given time.  The HIC includes the following project types:  Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, Permanent Supportive Housing, Other Permanent Supportive Housing (this is permanent housing for those experiencing homelessness but without the requirement of disability), Safe Haven, and Rapid Rehousing.
      This training goes through the HIC in detail. There is also a HIC Guide that is included with this training
  • WI Balance of State PIT Data Guide
    • The Point in Time (PIT) Guide is intended to provide guidance for PIT Leads on the data collection part of the PIT count, including data completion, gathering data from other agency partners and putting it all together.
  • Point in Time (PIT) Methodology *pending
    • A guide that covers the actual PIT planning process and requirements.  ​