For the 2021 Point-In-Time Count, HUD shifted its recommended approach for gathering data pertaining to people who cannot be engaged. In prior years, HUD provided an Unsheltered Observation Tally model survey which allowed for the surveyor to presume a person's race, gender, age range, and ethnicity based on what could be visually observed. The current HUD guidance, found here, recommends not presuming a person's demographics.  

The limitation of this new approach is that the data completion rates will tend to be lower for communities that use it. The image below is an excerpt from the HUD Extrapolation Tool which warns administrators that "data from a non-random sample may be used for extrapolation if reliable data exists for 80 percent or more of the clients in a given household."

Based on this concern of low data completion rates, the Observation Tally instrument assigned by default during setup does allow for the surveyor to presume demographic characteristics. If the consensus within your community is to avoid presuming a person's demographics, please submit a ticket to the helpdesk to request that the "Observation Tally with No Presumed Demographics" be used for this year's Count Activity.