We Count, California! is a collaboration between the California Homeless Youth Project of the California State Library and the Innovations for Youth (I4Y) Group at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health. Funded by The California Wellness Foundation, the aim of We Count, California! was to support communities in improving youth inclusion in 2015 Point-in-Time homeless counts across California. The Point-in- Time count of unsheltered persons is conducted every two years per federal mandate by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and is required for communities to receive federal funding for homeless services. The count is an important effort to ensure sound program and policy decisions are made when determining appropriate services tailored to each community. It also helps communities develop more effective plans and measure progress towards ending homelessness.

This report highlights promising practices for counting unaccompanied minors and transition-age youth experiencing homelessness and outlines the latest figures from communities’ 2015 Point-in-Time counts across the state.