photo by: Austin Hornbostel/Journal-World

Members of the point-in-time count team that the Journal-World accompanied prepare to survey a resident of the camp near Lawrence's Amtrak station during the early morning on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024.

The annual point-in-time count of the Lawrence area’s homeless population will be held later this week, the City of Lawrence announced in a news release on Tuesday.

The count, which is conducted each year by state agencies as mandated by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, will take place on Wednesday, Jan. 22, and Thursday, Jan. 23. It will be done by the City of Lawrence’s Homeless Response Team, Bert Nash Community Mental Health Center, the Lawrence Community Shelter and volunteers.

Each year, the count provides a snapshot of how many sheltered and unsheltered homeless individuals are in the community on a single night in January. As the Journal-World reported, last year’s count showed 414 people experiencing homelessness in the county on the night of the count, but advocates say the count tends to give a smaller number than the actual homeless population. The results of this year’s count likely won’t be known for some time, because the numbers are typically not reported for months after the count takes place.

The data is essential for communities to plan their services and apply for funding for homelessness relief efforts, the city said in the release.