It’s an inaccurate science, but it’s required by federal law. Nevada County’s annual Point in Time homeless count is this week. Director of Housing and Community Services Mike Dent says the count will be done a little differently this year than it was last year…

That means Sierra Roots, Salvation Army, Community Beyond Violence, Hospitality House, and other organizations will have their shelters open tonight and tomorrow nights, which gives officials 24 hours to do the count. Last year’s count was 410 homeless in Nevada County, but Dent says comparing this year’s count to last year’s is apples to oranges…

Dent says in addition to the number of people sheltered, they will also include bandwidth, which means the number sheltered compared to the number of beds available. The counts are done all around the country, and are used for federal funding purposes.

–gf