For a Night-by-Night Emergency Shelter (ES) project, what must be recorded for each night a household stays?

• A. Move-In Date
• B. Housed with... service
• C. Bed nights
• D. End Date

Answer: (C)

Bed nights are the unit used to track Night-by-Night Emergency Shelter occupancy. For each night a household occupies a bed, you record one bed night. This per-night counting precisely shows how much shelter space is actually used, which is essential for occupancy metrics, reporting, and funding purposes.

Move-in date or end date are just dates marking when a household starts or finishes staying, but they don’t quantify how many nights of shelter were utilized. Recording a bed night for every night distinguishes actual nightly occupancy from a single start or end date, and helps reflect partial stays accurately. Housed with... service is a type of service provided, not the measure of shelter usage.

For example, if a family stays four nights, you log four bed nights, even if their move-in or exit happens on a mid-month date.