Adams County staff outline housing-and-homelessness “spectrum” and urge regional coordination

Adams County officials gave commissioners a briefing on the county’s “housing and homelessness spectrum” during a study session, outlining service volumes, recent encampment resolutions and next steps for regional coordination.

Alicia, convener of the county’s cross-departmental encampment committee, told the board the presentation was an information session and not a decision meeting: “We don't necessarily have a decision point today, but we're gonna be kicking off this conversation and getting everyone up to speed and answering questions.” The briefing brought staff from community safety and well‑being, human services, community and economic development, public health, the county attorney’s office and other departments.

The county’s data analyst, Max Sercombe, data analytics and evaluation manager for Community Safety and Well‑Being, framed recent trends. He said the county saw a 7% increase in the total number of people accessing homelessness services between 2024 and 2025, but also noted limitations of the HUD point‑in‑time (PIT) count used to measure visible homelessness: “Point in time is a HUD mandated activity…that we count 1 day in January…that's 1 of the primary limitations.” Sercombe showed PIT totals the county reported in recent years — 948 in 2023, 970 in 2024 and 730 in 2025 — and cautioned those counts can vary with county counting capacity and methodology.

Staff described the county’s multi-pronged approach, which…