The purpose of the San Mateo County Homeless Census and Survey is to gather and analyze information to help us understand who is homeless in our community, why they are homeless and what interventions they need to end their homelessness. This data forms the basis for effective planning to solve this complex and longstanding problem. The San Mateo County Human Services Agency’s Center on Homelessness the San Mateo County Continuum of Care Steering Committee were responsible for overseeing this data collection effort, with assistance from a broad group of community partners, including non-profit social service providers, city and town governments, and homeless and formerly homeless individuals.
The Census and Survey was designed to meet two related sets of data needs. The first is the
requirement of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) that
communities applying for McKinney-Vento Homelessness Assistance funds (also known as
Continuum of Care or “CoC” funds) must conduct a point-in-time count of homeless people a
minimum of every two years. These counts are required to take place in the last ten days of
January.