Valley communities undergo 2026 Point-in-Time count for local homelessness numbers

PHOENIX — The Maricopa Association of Governments and cities across the Valley conducted the 2026 Point-in-Time count this week to get an estimate on local unsheltered and sheltered homeless populations.

Matthew Finley, senior planner for youth services with MAG, helped coordinate this year’s PIT count and explained the importance of it to KTAR News 92.3 FM. 

“That (data) goes into a report that’s called the ‘Annual Homelessness Assessment Report’ that Congress uses to help determine funding for every single region across the country,” Finley said.

Finley added that MAG has a pilot program that uses data collected statewide to get a sense of the local youth population experiencing homelessness.

While the data is helpful for understanding local homelessness and critical for receiving federal funding, Finley noted that the one-day snapshot does not provide a full picture of homelessness.

Data from the county will be available in mid-spring, according to Finley.

KTAR News 92.3 FM followed along with MAG workers conducting the count to get a firsthand look.

The Count

Early Tuesday morning in downtown Phoenix, dozens of people gathered outside Burton Barr Central Library as workers and volunteers prepared for the effort.

Groups mulled over maps, gripped steaming coffees and came up with a game plan to ensure they were covering all of downtown.

It was Finley’s third time taking part in Phoenix’s PIT count.

“The grid that we’re in is Phoenix’s, we’ll generally follow their lead wherever they tell us to go, we mostly have it planned out in advance,” Finley said.

During the count, unhoused individuals will either be interviewed for basic demographic information or if actual contact is not made — like someone sleeping or declines an interview — counters will simply observe details about that person.

“We’re not waking anybody up,” Finley joked.  

‘Where did you sleep last night?’

One of the initial questions in the survey touches on where the person slept the previous night.

Many unhoused people laugh at the question; one man interviewed at a bus stop simply answered “right here.”

A MAG worker conducting interviews told KTAR News the process is “very disheartening” because it gives a close-up view of the struggles people on the streets face.

Among the people encountered by MAG during the count was a young couple, Dustin Ragle and Megan Hardig.

They have been in and out of several Valley shelters since losing their stable housing around a year after a family member passed away.

Making matters more complicated, Megan Hardig is currently five months pregnant while living unsheltered on the streets.

“(It’s) nauseating, sleep sucks. It’s almost impossible to (sleep), with the heartburn and everything I just don’t,” Hardig said.

They couple stated they’re working on securing entry into Valley family shelter UMOM: New Day Centers, but for now are waiting.

Hardig and Ragle added they didn’t feel safe and ultimately had to leave Central Arizona Shelter Service’s (CASS)main downtown single adult congregate space due to issues with either staff or others experiencing homelessness.

In addition, the couple claimed that Phoenix Police threw away many of their belongings last year while clearing a tent encampment they were sleeping in, including Ragle’s bike.

“I had a $500 bike the church gave me, I had all kinds of stuff, all of my clothes,” Ragle said

He added that it was his main method of transportation for his job at a gas station.

The couple said all they have left are few clothes to protect from the cold and a tent they’re unable to set up because police will tell them to move along.

“Nobody can make it right,” Ragle said.

‘Now I’m just struggling trying to get another job’

Another man PIT counters spoke with was Rodney Scott.

Scott moved from Texas to Arizona in June 2024 and explained he had a job and apartment in Tempe, until he was laid off after a little more than a year and he became homeless.

He then spent some time at CASS’ downtown adult shelter but said other people there were stealing his possessions, so he decided to go out on the streets.

Scott added that he has encountered a lot of people struggling with drug addiction while previously in shelter and on the streets now.

“But that’s not everybody’s case, I’ve met people out here in my same situation, just a thing with jobs,” Scott said.

Scott believes people who are ready to work and not living with a debilitating addiction should have a fast-track program to get back on their feet. For now, he’s looking for ways to save funds for an apartment.

“If the rent is $2,000 (or) $3,000, I don’t know nobody making three times that on a normal basis,” Scott said. “I really don’t, I haven’t seen it.”

However, Scott isn’t mad at himself for his current situation, stating “you’ve got to do what you’ve got to do.”

“Figure it out, it’s the way of the world. Gotta adapt,” Scott added.

An early indication?

Shortly after interviewing Rodney Scott, MAG workers and volunteers were wrapping up their portion of the count in downtown Phoenix.

According to Finley, it’s far too early to provide any expectations for what the full number will be when the PIT data comes down. However, he noted it did provide some insight.

“We often see folks where their experiences have been episodic — that they kind of enter into homelessness and exit homelessness — and maybe years later will re-enter homelessness. This year most of the individuals I spoke with, this was their first time,” Finley explained.

Overall, MAG surveyors indicated fewer encounters with unhoused people than expected.

For example, only about three people experiencing homelessness were observed at Steele Indian School Park in Phoenix, an area often seen as a “hotspot.”

“(City of Phoenix) staff really shared that they’ve been spending a lot of time with individuals, connecting them with services and housing,” Finley said.

However, he emphasized these indications are just for now and not facts of the Valley homeless population, important steps like ensuring individuals were not double counted in the street census are still needed.

The hope is the PIT count will show an overall drop in Valley homelessness or an increase in the sheltered population, which would mean a decrease in the number of unsheltered people on the streets.

Last year’s count found 9,734 unhoused people in Maricopa County on the night of Jan. 28, 2025.

That was a 3% total increase from 2024, a 28% spike in unsheltered homelessness and a 16% drop in the sheltered population.

Meanwhile, 2024 had a 2% total drop in Valley homelessness from 2023.

As Finley noted, these numbers are not a “total” count of all homeless individuals in the county but a snapshot of one day out of the year.

Does PIT accurately count families?

Another shortcoming of the data is tracking unhoused families.

“The PIT count is not an accurate count when it comes to families, they do not want to be found,” Ted Taylor, CEO of local nonprofit Family Promise of Greater Phoenix, said.

Taylor added that’s largely due to parents of families struggling with housing being afraid of losing their kids.

In addition, Taylor stated that unhoused families tend to “double up” in spaces, which is not always defined as homelessness.

He participated in the count and said he encountered families living out of cars in places like Walmart parking lots in the east Valley.

His proposed solution to keep better tabs on unhoused families is to lean on the Arizona public school system, he stated it’s the “front line” of familial homelessness.

“We need to listen to them because they know about the kids who are transient (and) not in stable housing,” Taylor said.

He noted the actual number of homeless families in the Valley could be four to five times higher than what normal figures estimate.

Last year’s PIT count found 539 families experiencing homelessness, a total of 1,831 individuals.

Differing views on the count from the counted

Rodney Scott appreciates the PIT count effort and the people who do it.

“You know, it lets me know there’s other people out here who do care,” Scott said.

However, others like Dustin Ragle and Megan Hardig weren’t so optimistic when asked if the count represents a helping hand.

“We keep getting let down. It’s a wild goose chase for us,” Hardig said.

Meanwhile, Ragle is concerned about going to another shelter.

“They’ll have the staff get on to our relationship and try to separate us,” Ragle claimed.

KTAR News 92.3 FM plans to keep in touch with the couple and track their journey off the streets as Hardig gets closer to her due date.

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