Palm Beach County Community Services Department Announces 2022 Homeless Point-in-Time Count Results

​On Feb. 24 and 25, 2022, more than 200 staff members and community volunteers participated in the Palm Beach County (PBC) homeless Point-in-Time (PIT) count. Representatives from the Homeless and Housing Alliance (HHA), Palm Beach County Community Services Department (CSD) and many other organizations surveyed individuals and families experiencing homelessness during a 24-hour period.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office and six other municipal law enforcement entities provided assistance to field outreach teams conducting the surveys by escorting them into wooded areas, parking lots, bus stops, abandoned buildings and parks as well as stationary places such as food pantries, soup kitchens and libraries. Individuals and families sleeping in their cars and local shelters were also included in the count.During this 24-hour period, the surveyors identified 1,404 individuals and families as homeless. This marked a 7% decrease in the number of homeless individuals counted in 2020.Since 2020, the Palm Beach County Community Services Department and Homeless and Housing Alliance spent more than $110 million dollars on homeless and homeless prevention services. The CSD, HHA and other system partners have also worked collaboratively on initiatives to remove a large encampment of homeless individuals from John Prince Park, increase the amount of local resources allocated from the federal government, enhance collaboration with local housing authorities, enhance the coordinated entry system to quickly identify and serve homeless individuals, expand the Rapid Rehousing Program and landlord recruitment initiative and expand temporary shelter and hotel capacity.The county opened the 125-bed shelter (the Lewis Center Annex) in June 2020 and a 42-bed facility in the city of Pahokee in January 2021. The county recently held a ground-breaking ceremony for another homeless resource center in Lake Worth Beach. This 74-bed facility will provide interim shelter for individuals and families as they transition into more permanent housing opportunities. The county is also working with the West Palm Beach Housing Authority to build 17 cottage homes that will be used as transitional housing for homeless families."Every year we come together with our shared belief and commitment to effectively serve residents experiencing homelessness and work towards our common goal of ensuring that homelessness in Palm Beach County is rare, brief and nonrecurring," said Wendy Tippett, director of Human Services and Community Action. "We know that our work is not over, which is why we use the PIT count numbers to make data-driven decisions on how to provide essential services to the areas that serve the most in need, she added."Local partner organizations and college students assisted in this year's Point-in-Time Count and continue to help those in need on a daily basis include. The organizations include the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office, City of West Palm Police Department, Wellington Police Department, Riviera Beach Police Department, City of Boca Police Department, City of Boynton Beach Police Department, City of Delray Beach Police Department, PBC Parks and Recreation Department, PBC Youth Services Department, PBC Library System, Veterans Affairs Administration, School District of Palm Beach County, Homeless Coalition of Palm Beach County, United Way of Palm Beach County, The Lords Place, Adopt-a-Family, Salvation Army, Gulfstream Goodwill, YWCA, FAU- CILO, CROS Ministries, Living Hungry, AVDA, South County Mental Health, Jeff Industries, Rebel Recovery, Stand Down, Vita Nova and Catholic Charities.

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