SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) — For the first time in more than two decades, San Francisco is changing the way it counts the number of unhoused individuals on its streets.

“This is a major change. We’re going from nighttime count to early morning count because we feel we’ll be reaching more people at night people. I was homeless for 18 years. You could never find me,” said Del Seymour, Co-chair San Francisco’s Local Homeless Coordinating Board.

Thursday’s ‘Point in Time’ count will now happen from 5 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. Historically, it happened overnight.

Another change, community volunteers will not be involved. Instead, it will only be trained city employees and outreach workers. The Coalition on Homelessness sees that as a lack of transparency.

“They’re not allowing any volunteers on the count. And so, they’re relying on city outreach workers, who in our experience, when they did the RV count, they missed 1 in 5 RVs. It means that it’s not open. And you don’t have the observers and the people participatory process that I think is really important to make sure that everything’s going well,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, Executive Director SF’s Coalition on Homelessness.

MORE: Mayor Lurie talks affordability, homelessness and bringing business back to the SF

We sat with Emily Cohen HSH’s Deputy Director of Communications, who said they made the change to improve visibility.

“We will be identifying vehicles that appear to be occupied and trying to assess if somebody is living in that vehicle. Certainly, if there’s a tent on the street, we make assumptions about how many people are in those tents and try to put together the most accurate picture possible,” said Cohen.

Luz Pena: “Why are volunteers not part of this count?”

Emily Cohen: “To help ensure consistency and transparency of the count, we are relying heavily on trained outreach workers and city staff to conduct the count. Those two groups have always been a part of the count. But in the past, we have had more general volunteers, but we’ve had some training challenges with that in the past, so we’re sticking with, city staff and trained outreach workers this year.”

This time around, the city will also conduct a survey that will include questions like ‘are you homeless?’ and ‘what led to you being homeless?’

Luz Pena: “Do you believe this new method will lead to a more accurate count?”

Emily Cohen: “I think that these improvements will help us ensure an accurate count.”

Our data team aggregated the city’s PIT count data and found that between 2009 and 2024 the number of homeless individuals rose by nearly 30 percent.

MORE: Counting San Francisco’s unhoused — and why you never ask if they are homeless

Some homeless advocates believe the new change is political and could lead to an under count.

“We’re really worried with, you know, a, you know, political intervention on the count, that there could be a false under count and we could show a decrease that in reality is not there,” said Friedenbach.

MORE: Formerly unhoused San Jose Columbus Park residents adjusting to restrictions in new home

In the Fiscal year 2025 to 2026, the city is projected to get $62.8 million or 7.4% of the total budget from federal sources. The city’s Homelessness and Supportive Housing Department will continue with this method for the next 10 years to build up a strong data set.

“We are working very closely with all of the outreach teams in the city, with city staff to go cover every square inch of the city and county of San Francisco to visually count everyone who we assume is experiencing homelessness,” said Cohen.

EVERETT, Wash. – Three new measles cases have been confirmed in Snohomish County children, a continuation of an ongoing outbreak, bringing the total number of cases to six.

What we know:

The latest case was confirmed on Tuesday, Jan. 27, in a child who was unvaccinated. Two additional measles cases were diagnosed in a family that was already isolating due to a positive case in a sibling.

The Snohomish County Health Department declared a measles outbreak in the county weeks ago after three children tested positive, exposed by a family visiting from South Carolina.

Health officials said in the latest case, the child visited Slavic Christian Church Awakening in Mukilteo (4223 78th St. SW) on Sunday, Jan. 18. Anyone who attended the church between 2 p.m. and 6 p.m. on Jan. 18 may have been exposed to the virus.

What they’re saying:

Despite the ongoing outbreak, the risk to the general public remains low, as most people are vaccinated against measles. There are no new exposure sites in Snohomish County, aside from the church.

“Most people in our county have immunity to measles through vaccination, so the risk to the general public is low,” said Snohomish County Health Officer Dr. James Lewis. “The next two to three weeks could be telling on where this outbreak is going to go. Now is the time the find out your immunization status and get up to date on vaccinations.”

More cases are expected during the outbreak, and health officials believe that some may be isolating at home and not seeking medical attention.

The public is encouraged to visit the Snohomish County Health Department’s measles dashboard for updates on new cases and exposure sites.

Those who Measles is a highly contagious and potentially severe disease that causes fever, rash, cough, runny nose and red, watery eyes. Call a healthcare provider promptly if you develop an illness with fever or with an unexplained rash.

More information can be found on the measles page on the Snohomish County Health Department website.

MORE NEWS FROM FOX 13 SEATTLE

Seattle-based Amazon to close Amazon Go, Amazon Fresh stores, shift focus

Gov. Ferguson, AG Brown write warning to DHS Secretary Kristi Noem

Treasured bible among stolen items returned after robbery in Pierce County

Man shot multiple times in Pierce County drive-by

Rivian amps up competition with Tesla, pledging $4.6M to WA ballot initiative

To get the best local news, weather and sports in Seattle for free, sign up for the daily FOX Seattle Newsletter.

Download the free FOX LOCAL app for mobile in the Apple App Store or Google Play Store for live Seattle news, top stories, weather updates and more local and national news.