ROSEBUD – The Rosebud Sioux tribal council approved legislation recently to allow a Point In Time count to gather data on houseless citizens on the Rosebud reservation.
According to the HUD Exchange, “The Point-in-Time (PIT) count is a count of sheltered and unsheltered people experiencing homelessness on a single night in January. HUD requires that CoCs [Continuum of Care] conduct an annual count of people experiencing homelessness who are sheltered in emergency shelter, transitional housing, and Safe Havens on a single night. CoCs also must conduct a count of unsheltered people experiencing homelessness every other year
(odd numbered years). Each count is planned, coordinated, and carried out locally.”
“One of the areas where we really want to improve our coverage is tribal communities,” stated Joseph Tielke, who serves as the Continuum of Care Administrator at the South Dakota Housing Development Authority. “Tribal nations and their housing entities are eligible to receive CoC funds.”
“The survey would count anybody who is in a public or private shelter, a transitional housing facility, sleeping outside or in a vehicle, or anybody who is living in a home that lacks the critical utilities,” Tielke said. The survey is mandated to be completed every year during the last ten days in January. An additional survey could also be conducted at the same time to gather information
on reservation homes where one, two, three or more families are living in one house.
The South Dakota Housing Development Authority has never done the Point In Time count on Rosebud. “We’re trying to create meaningful partnerships,” continued Tielke. “In getting the count done in all communities, we need new partners.”
Other tribes who have partnered to do the Point In Time count are Lower Brule, Yankton, Sisseton and Cheyenne River. The count would be organized by the tribe. Interviewers going door-to-door would be tribal citizens who live on the reservation. Also, there are many tribal citizens who worked for the
census in 2020. They have been trained to interview respondents and could potentially be hired to do the Point In Time count. The survey would likely be done on a smart phone app.
“The only people who can do the count on Rosebud are tribal members because they will be the only ones who can build that trust,” Tielke told the council. “This survey is not mandatory and any personal identifying information (PII) is removed.”
“The tribe will be able to get the information from every survey done on Rosebud,” Tielke said. The tribal council approved a resolution to do a partnership with the Housing for Homeless Consortium to do the Point In Time count in January 2024. For more information, please speak to your tribal council representative. Tribal council contact information can be found online.
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