In January 2019, the Orange County community undertook a huge project, the biennial Point-in-Time count, to find and interview as many people experiencing homelessness in the county as possible. This significant effort was led by the County of Orange, City Net, and 2-1-1 OC and was made possible through the work of over a thousand community volunteers. This data is crucial for the community as it provides valuable insight into who is experiencing homelessness, what their needs are and therefore informs us about what solutions are needed.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) requires communities across the country to perform Point-in-Time counts of sheltered and unsheltered people that are without a home. According to the recent 2019 count, there are an estimated 6,860 unique people who are homeless in Orange County: they are living on the streets, in cars or in temporary shelters.

Chronic homelessness is defined as someone who has been homeless for at least a year and has a diagnosed disability.

A Service Planning Area, or SPA, is a specific geographic region within Orange County. The county has been divided into three geographic areas (North, Central and South).

The estimates for the number of people who are chronically homeless by SPA is based on the 2019 Point-in-Time count  information which showed that 52% of the unsheltered homeless population are chronically homelessness.