7 Min Read WASHINGTON (Thomson Reuters Foundation) - As U.S. President Joe Biden vows to tackle the country’s housing affordability crisis, one group is trying to convince cities they can end homelessness outright armed with one thing: better data. For homeless service providers across the United States, late January means the “point-in-time” count, in which volunteers spend a single night combing streets, parks and forests for people sleeping rough, or living in cars or tents. The federally mandated count offers a key snapshot of the unhoused population, but the data has long been criticized by some homelessness advocates. “It’s crazy,” said Jake Maguire, co-director of the anti-homelessness program Built for Zero at the national nonprofit Community Solutions. “We’re told it’s scientific, but it produces a very uncertain number.”