Rohnert Park staff flag discrepancies in 2024 homeless point‑in‑time count as city discusses vehicle‑dwelling trend

Rohnert Park officials on Oct. 8 reviewed the results and methodology of the January 2024 point‑in‑time (PIT) homeless count and urged caution in interpreting the county’s published numbers.

Housing Manager Jenna Garcia and Homeless Services Coordinator Emily Quig told the City Council that Sonoma County assigned 279 individuals to the census tract(s) covering Rohnert Park for the 2024 PIT count: 205 unsheltered and 74 sheltered. That figure represents roughly a 33% increase from the number assigned to the same area in 2023, staff said.

“We did our best to kind of dig in and try to understand why we saw an increase,” Emily Quig said, summarizing local volunteer tallies and subsequent data review. She told the council volunteers reported more vehicles (RVs, trailers, cars) than in prior years and that a large share of unsheltered people were living in vehicles. Quig added that some technical or data‑entry issues may have produced duplicate records in one west‑side census tract.

Jenna Garcia emphasized the limits of the PIT method. “The point in time count is an important tool but it is at best an imperfect science,” she said, noting volunteers often record vehicle or tent locations in the field without personally verifying age or other identifying details.

City staff also described the city’s by‑name list, an operational case‑management tool that in September showed 152 people experiencing homelessness who have engaged with local providers; of those, 81 were unsheltered and 71 sheltered. Staff said the by‑name list is not comprehensive but represents roughly 75% of people engaged through services, and that about 37% of unsheltered people on that list were in vehicles.

County homelessness manager Michael Gau described HUD best practices that call for a separate evening youth count (typically ages 18–24) run by youth volunteers because youth are less likely to be observed at 5 a.m. He said the separate youth effort can create overlap with morning counts and is one hypothesis for discrepancies between local volunteer tallies and the county’s aggregated output.

Council members asked whether recent state executive orders and enforcement actions could change next year’s counts. Gau said the region has not yet seen a large influx tied to state moves and that county and regional outreach teams continue work to stabilize people and connect them to services. He also noted planned additional state and federal funding opportunities and county facilities coming online for behavioral health and bridge housing.

Staff recommended continued coordination with the county to improve training, provide on‑site data support during future counts, and cross‑check app data near collection time to reduce potential duplication. The council did not take action; members thanked staff and county partners and emphasized the city’s interest in refining local data and services.

The council’s briefing and Q&A session closed with recognition of volunteers who participate in early‑morning counts and staff commitments to strengthen data collection and outreach practices.