Point in Time Count

Point in Time Count of Cape and Islands Homeless

The annual Point in Time Count of the Cape and Islands homeless is required by the Continuum of Care (CoC) Grant Program funded by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. The Cape and Islands Regional Network on Homelessness conducts the annual Point in Time Count that counts the number of people experiencing homelessness in emergency shelters, transitional housing, on the street, in cars, abandoned buildings, and in other places not meant for human habitation. Counts are conducted annually in every community and do not count households living in motels nor those that are doubled-up and living with family and friends.

2019 Annual Point in Time Results

The Cape and Islands Regional Network on Homelessness 2019 findings from the Annual Point in Time count, which took place on January 29, 2019, on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard, and Nantucket, indicate that the total number of homeless persons (adults and children, sheltered and unsheltered) on the night of the 2019 count was 371, an increase of 13 persons over last year. Two trends are worth noting. First, while the total number of homeless individuals has remained relatively consistent over the last several years, the number of families in a shelter this year increased by 7 (13 persons) from the previous count. The MA Department of Housing and Community Development, which administers the state’s Emergency Family Shelter system, has noted a trend of increasing numbers of families accessing emergency shelter across the state. On January 29, 2019, 195 people were housed in four family shelters across the Cape and Islands region. Second, although the total number of unsheltered individuals is virtually unchanged from 2018, there was a notable decrease in the number of unsheltered males and an increase in the number of unsheltered females.