LOS ANGELES, CA– Volunteers cruised darkened streets Tuesday night, tallying tents and RVs from car windows during Los Angeles’ annual Point-in-Time (PIT) count — a volunteer-run snapshot that allows the state to unlock hundreds of millions in federal dollars. The snapshot relies on drive-by guesses, and no volunteers dare exit their vehicles.

The PIT count, mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) since 2007, provides a single-night estimate of sheltered and unsheltered homelessness to guide federal funding through Continuum of Care (CoC) grants. HUD has required PIT counts since 2005, but counting unsheltered homeless began in 2007 to improve data consistency for funding decisions.  (RELATED: Newsom’s 9% Homeless ‘Win’ Is Built On Half-Baked Data)

PEP RALLY FOR THE HOMELESS 

With the three-day PIT count beginning on Tuesday, volunteers gathered in a downtown community center. They detailed the ArcGIS QuickCapture app they would use for the night and provided instructions: stay in vehicles, observe and mark tents, vehicles or people, and prioritize safety. No approaching tents, no knocking on doors.

Volunteers were given neon yellow vests, and locations on physical maps marked where they headed out for the night to count the homeless from their cars.

Paired with a group of three people, the Daily Caller News Foundation observed how the process worked. With one driver, one navigator and one counter, they headed into a fringe tract near Pico and Union — residential blocks, strip malls and freeway underpasses, far from Skid Row’s density.

At 5 mph, headlights swept the residential streets.

“So, when we get to these areas, we’re going to want to go pretty slow. So we can properly look at people,” Adam, the navigator, told Kate who was driving for the night.

Adam had prior experience with the PIT process, telling the DCNF that he........

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