The state Housing Authority is conducting the Point-In-Time, or PIT, Survey just after the new year. The goal is to get the most accurate tally of South Dakota’s unhoused population.
Joseph Tielke is the continuum of care administrator at the state Housing Authority. He said there are challenges to wanting a complete picture of the unhoused population – especially in rural areas.
“It’s very difficult, to be honest," Tielke said. "If we get any numbers in those rural areas, sometimes it’s only the domestic violence shelters because they’re the only partners doing the work on a routine basis to report the numbers. The PIT is not truly a representation to the extent of homeless, it’s a better representation of our reach and where we can find folks to survey.”
While the choice of performing the survey during the final ten days of January raise questions, that window has historically been legally mandated across the country by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development.
However, Tielke said he would always want it done in this timeframe.
“We want to make sure that we’re producing data that is one-to-one with other communities," Tielke said. "As far as it being cold, winter is when people are most concerned about the ability of unsheltered people to survive. Because at the same time we’re counting, it’s also a bit of an outreach opportunity.”
With the survey fast approaching, Tielke said everyday South Dakotans should consider how they can help their communities too.
“The majority of partners we’re working with, I know this is a tough year for them," Tielke said. "With the affordability crisis, private donations are being scaled back, federal funds are in a chaotic place. This is really the time the community, if they can embrace these programs and support them, it’s just so much better to support them than to fight them. Then you’re going to see the outcomes that everybody wants to see.”
When shelters have volunteers and proper community support, that outcome, according to Tielke, is an overall reduction in the unhoused population.
