March 17, 2020

Pillow Count Histogram

This report is known as the “Pillow Count” Histogram as it is a reflection of the number of times a client’s head hits a pillow during the course of the reporting period.  This report is an effective means for detecting stay patterns within a shelter and helping to evaluate whether resources are being properly allocated between the front door (prevention and rapid re-housing) and the back door (re-housing).  

The Housing Prioritization Tools and the Proposed Chronic Homeless Definition White Paper goes into greater detail on how the “Pillow Count Histogram” has been adopted by Quincy, MA based Father Bill’s and MainSpring to guide their resource allocation strategy.