Albany County joins Wyoming Point-in-Time count measuring sheltered, unsheltered homelessness

Albany County joined statewide Point-In-Time counting activity aimed at measuring both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness as local Continuum of Care programs carried out counts during the last ten days of January. The Point-In-Time exercise is the federally defined method for local jurisdictions to produce a single-night snapshot of people experiencing homelessness and is intended to inform allocation of resources and planning.

The Point‑In‑Time (PIT) count is defined by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development: “The Point‑In‑Time (PIT) count is a nationwide count of individuals and families experiencing homelessness within a community on a given night, typically at the end of January, as outlined and defined by the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD).” PIT counts measure both sheltered and unsheltered homelessness, with unsheltered persons described in the source material as “are individuals staying on the streets, encampments, in their car, or other places not intended as housing.”

Methodological limits matter for local interpretation. The PIT is a single-night snapshot and “excludes residents who are precariously housed, couch surfing, or were simply not identified on the” count; the sentence in the source is truncated. The Institute for Community Alliance notes a key caveat for trend analysis: “Due to the COVID‑19 pandemic, the unsheltered portion of the 2021 count was excluded, leading to an undercount of the homeless population.” That exclusion affects year-to-year comparisons and planning assumptions that rely on consistent unsheltered tallies.

County and statewide housing data provide context for Albany County’s needs. Root Policy Research and HUD CHAS 2020 estimates show Wyoming totals and county breakdowns. The statewide summary reads: “As shown, the state has over 50,000 households under 100% AMI with at least one housing problem. Of those, over 20,000 have income at or below 30% AMI.” Figure I‑40 excerpt lists county-level entries, including Albany County’s row exactly as provided: “Albany 2,360 355 1,205 200 780 390 10 175 115 305 5,475.” The final number in that line, 5,475, is shown in the excerpt as Albany County’s total of households with a housing problem for 2020.

Youth and household composition data underline local service pressures. The McKinney‑Vento excerpt states: “This is an increase of 324 from the 1,447 reported in the 2013/2014 academic year. However, it is a decrease from the peak of 1,916 reported in the 2016/2017 academic year.” Cost burden is concentrated in specific household types: “single parent households (41%) and households with a member with a disability (36%) experienced significantly higher rates of cost burden.”

Some source excerpts are truncated or lack table headers, for example a fragment reading “White 1.0% 0.9% Hispanic 3.8% 1.2% Native American 3.0% 4.6% Asian 4.6% 1.9% Black/African American 3.6% 0.0% Other/Two or more races 0.6% 0.3% Overcrowded Substandard Housing” appears without column labels in the material provided; the Converse county row in the figure is also truncated.

For Albany County residents and local officials, the PIT count and the HUD-CHAS housing problem totals together quantify housing instability and cost pressure in ways that inform shelter capacity, outreach to vehicle dwellers and encampments, school-based McKinney‑Vento services, and rental-assistance priorities. Next steps for local policymakers include reviewing the full Root Policy Research figures to resolve truncated fields, comparing raw Albany PIT tallies across 2016-2023 while accounting for the 2021 undercount, and aligning outreach funding to the documented concentrations of cost burden among single-parent households and households with disabilities.