The biennial homeless census has been canceled due to Covid-19.

The biennial homeless census is a massive undertaking. For a single day, usually around February, the census enlists approximately 200 volunteers who are guided into encampments across the county by a few of local houseless people themselves. The work begins in the early pre-dawn hours, with volunteers counting and surveying the houseless people they can track down.

Once the data is gathered, it creates a imperfect but helpful picture of what one day of homelessness looks like in Monterey County, as well as communities across the country. The numbers are then sent to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to estimate the homeless population in each region, and those numbers are used to determine the amount of funding communities get to help ameliorate homelessness in their region. 

The last survey was in February 2019 and the every-two-years count was supposed to get going around this time. Due the Covid-19 pandemic, it has been canceled for 2021, according to the Coalition of Homeless Services Providers. 

Monterey and San Benito counties, which carry out the survey in partnership, have joined several regions in California in "requesting an exception to some or all of the components of the count," according to a Jan. 26 announcement by CHSP.

Due to the nature of the survey, which requires close human contact and the current state of the pandemic, CHSP did want to risk the health or safety of any individuals involved.

“The point-in-time count of our homeless residents in Monterey and San Benito counties is a critically important process. But this pandemic is at its worst point and we appreciate the flexibility to delay our count until next year for the safety of our staff, volunteers, and the community experiencing homelessness. We look forward to completing this critical work when it can be done more safely,” Monterey County Supervisor and Lead Me Home Leadership Council co-chair Luis Alejo stated in CHSP's press release.