San Bernardino County has been recognized for its Point-In-Time Count efforts, the annual project sponsored by the federal government that determines local, state, and the nation’s homeless populations.
The National Association of Counties recently presented the county with a 2023 Achievement Award for its virtual training of Point-In-Time volunteers, which led to a 41 percent increase in workers between 2021 and 2022, according to a statement on the county’s website.
Virtual training allows volunteers to be trained anywhere, rather than at county offices.
San Bernardino County won 160 NACo 2023 Achievement Awards, almost twice as many as it won last year.
“The Point-in-Time-Count is important in many different ways, mainly because it provides us with a baseline to monitor our progress in addressing homelessness,” said Carrie Harmon, the county’s director of community development, in the statement.
The count, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, is a survey of homeless individuals on one day every winter. An estimated 4,195 homeless individuals were living in San Bernardino County on the night of this year’s count.