Point In Time Count Shows Rise in Homelessness In Bucks County

DOYLESTOWN, PA — The number of residents sleeping in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or outdoors represents a 25 percent increase from last year, according to the 2024 Bucks County Point In Time Homeless Count conducted in January.

The PIT count is reported anually to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

Of the 407 residents counted in the annual survey, 234 were sleeping in emergency shelters, transitional housing or hotels paid for by charitable organizations, 82 people were in seasonal Code Blue shelters and 91 adults were sleeping outdoors or in other places not meant for human habitation.

For the eighth year, the count identified no children sleeping outdoors, according to Bucks County.

Led by the Housing Link Street Outreach teams, staff and volunteers completed more than 275 surveys during their annual countywide count of residents experiencing homelessness.

The federally mandated PIT Count is conducted each year during the last week of January. The information gathered is then compiled by the Bucks County Department of Housing and Community Development and reported to HUD.

The growth in homelessness recorded in this year’s PIT Count includes a 67 percent increase in those experiencing long-term homelessness, which is also called chronic homelessness. Code Blue shelters, run by local faith-based organizations that rely almost entirely on volunteers, saw more than double the number of residents seeking shelter on the night of the count.

In line with nationwide trends, Bucks County saw both a 42 percent rise in seniors 55 and older experiencing homelessness, as well as a 35 percent decrease in unhoused, unaccompanied youth ages 18-24.

This year’s increases in homelessness coincide with the expiration of pandemic-era federal funding aimed at stabilizing housing situations and preventing homelessness.

Among the programs funded by those federal dollars was the Bucks Emergency Rental Assistance Program (BERA), which helped more than 6,000 Bucks County households remain in their homes before it ended in April.

A summary of the Bucks County 2024 PIT Count is available on the Housing Link website.