Cambridge Homeless Point-in-Time Count data: 2012-present

This dataset includes Point-in-Time (PIT) data collected in Cambridge between 2012 and 2025. The PIT count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons on a single night in January. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires that communities receiving funding through the Continuum of Care (CoC) Program conduct an annual count of homeless persons on a single night in the last 10 days of January, and these data contribute to national estimates of homelessness reported in the Annual Homeless Assessment Report to the U.S. Congress. This dataset is comprised of data submitted to, and stored in, HUD’s Homelessness Data Exchange (HDX). This dataset includes basic counts and demographic information of persons experiencing homelessness on each PIT date from 2012-2025. The dataset contains three rows for each year, including one row for each housing type: Emergency Shelter, Transitional Housing, or Unsheltered. The dataset also includes housing inventory counts of the number of shelter and transitional housing units available on each of the PIT count dates. Information about persons staying in emergency shelters and transitional housing units is exported from the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS), which is the primary database for recording client-level service records. Information about persons in unsheltered situations is compiled by first conducting an overnight street count of persons observed sleeping outdoors on the PIT night to establish the total number of unsheltered persons. Demographic information for unsheltered persons is then extrapolated by utilizing assessment data collected by street outreach workers during the 7 days following the PIT count.

本数据集涵盖2012年至2025年间在剑桥市采集的时点（Point-in-Time, PIT）统计数据。时点计数指在1月某一夜对受庇护与未受庇护的无家可归者开展的计数。美国住房与城市发展部（U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, HUD）要求，通过关怀连续体（Continuum of Care, CoC）项目获取资助的社区，需在1月最后10天内的某一夜开展年度无家可归者计数，本数据集的数据将用于提交给美国国会的《年度无家可归评估报告》中的全国无家可归者估算统计。本数据集由提交至并存储于HUD无家可归数据交换平台（Homelessness Data Exchange, HDX）的数据整合而成，包含2012至2025年各时点统计当日无家可归者的基础计数与人口统计信息。数据集每年对应三条数据行，分别对应紧急收容所、过渡性住房、未受庇护三种住房类型。此外，数据集还收录了各时点统计当日可用的收容及过渡性住房单元的库存计数。其中，居住在紧急收容所与过渡性住房单元的人员信息，由无家可归者管理信息系统（Homeless Management Information System, HMIS）导出——该系统是记录客户级服务档案的核心数据库。未受庇护的无家可归者信息则通过以下流程汇编：首先在时点统计当夜开展街头夜间计数，统计在外露宿的人员总数；随后借助时点统计后7天内街头外展工作人员收集的评估数据，推算未受庇护群体的人口统计特征。