Each year the Colorado Balance of State (BoS) Continuum of Care (CoC) conducts a Point-In Time (PIT) study on homelessness in Colorado’s rural and non-metro counties.

The PIT count has two major goals:

• Conducting an unduplicated count of individuals and families meeting the HUD definition of homelessness

• Capturing information about demographic characteristics, disabling conditions, and subpopulations related to homelessness

The Balance of State CoC covers Colorado's 54 non-metro and rural counties. This includes all counties outside of metro Denver (Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas, and Jefferson County), Colorado Springs (El Paso County), and Northern Colorado (Larimer and Weld County). During previous PIT counts, Northern Colorado had been a part of the Balance of State CoC. In 2020, they were designated by HUD as a separate CoC1 .

This year the PIT count was held on the night of Tuesday, January 28th, 2020. PIT counts are required to be conducted at least biennially by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) as a condition of applying for HUD homeless assistance funds. PIT counts are important because they provide data to quantify the scope of homelessness and help national, state, and local policymakers track progress towards the goal of ending homelessness.