Official 2026 Point-in-Time Count results released for North Central Florida
Press release from Taskforce for Ending Homelessness
GAINESVILLE, Fla. — The official 2026 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count results for Alachua, Bradford, Dixie, Gilchrist, Levy, and Putnam Counties surveyed 613 individuals experiencing homelessness across North Central Florida, including 414 individuals residing in sheltered settings and 199 individuals identified through unsheltered surveys.
The PIT Count is conducted nationwide in January and serves as a federally required snapshot of homelessness trends. The count reflects conditions observed during a single evening and does not represent the full scope of homelessness experienced throughout the year or even within a single month.
This year’s results reflect continued system coordination efforts and investments focused on reducing street homelessness through outreach, coordinated entry processes, behavioral health treatment, and cross-sector collaboration. Compared to the previous year, the 2026 PIT Count reflected fewer individuals identified through unsheltered surveys, while sheltered survey counts increased slightly. Overall, North Central Florida has experienced a substantial decline in the total number of individuals identified during the Point-in-Time Count since 2023, when 1,006 individuals were surveyed across the region.
Over the preceding 18 months, TaskForce and Continuum of Care partners have implemented record levels of street outreach deployment, expanded professional training initiatives, strengthened coordination among service providers, and reinforced a community-wide commitment to collaboration with law enforcement and EMS partners. This year’s PIT Count also incorporated enhanced technology systems, including GIS-based mapping tools designed to improve geographic coverage, strengthen real-time coordination, and eliminate the potential for duplicate surveys among field teams.
For the full report, visit www.taskforcefl.org/data-and-reports.
Interesting #’s, significant reductions…….guess it just appears that there are more homeless folks around.
The survey should also include criminal records.
How many of them receive a government check?
Nice to see numbers going down and more coordination with different agencies. But we still see too many chronic homeless in mugshots. Instead of blaming “the system’ we need better ideas applied for a better future. MAGA 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸
PS: Beware as the county and city commissions attempt to dump on the school boards their most egregious agendas, such as GRACE criminals and illegal alien homeless for vacant school buildings.
As the state abolishes homestead property taxes, the Lefty locals will immediately pile on more money-education responsibility for schools, such as homeless, healthcare, woke and climate agendas…. to keep programs alive and brainwash NGO victims.
Write to Lawyer DeSantis about this loophole. The ACLUSPLCDNC want to keep and trap their most loyal voters, from moving to other cities and states. 🤡👹👺💩👿
Surveyed six counties, found 613 homeless people. How many are living in Alachua county? Do we draw them here?
How many shelter beds available outside metro Gainesville area?
Each municipality should have shelter beds based on their population.