More than 600 volunteers will be fanning out through the streets, parks, and shelters of Metro Vancouver on Wednesday to count the number of homeless people, and this year there is a special emphasis on homeless youths.

The count has been conducted every three years since 2002, and although youths have been included in the previous three counts, 200 volunteers have been specifically tasked with counting the demographic group this year in an effort to get more a more accurate count.

The data will be used to identify services needed for homeless youths and funding for those services, accorrding to Natasha Van Borek, the coordinator for the youth count, who expects the extra volunteers to pay off.

"Within the region, I think that youth historically in the last three counts have been undercounted," said Van Borek.

The count is organized by the Greater Vancouver Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness and the Aboriginal Homelessness Steering Committee, which expect the findings will be released in late April.