Did you hear? Hawaii has solved its homeless problem.The solution was so obvious it’s amazing no one thought of it sooner. Just stop counting them!That’s right, this year, when the Jan. 22 Point in Time Count rolls around, Hawaii agencies will count only those homeless already in shelters. The vast majority of our unhoused population – those living under storefront awnings, tents, umbrellas and tarps on the sidewalks, under and even in the trees – nah, no need to count ‘em.And here I thought the purpose of the annual homeless population count was to assess the need for more shelters, more treatment options, more housing even. Well, guess what? No need!I think I’m going to try that approach with my middle-age spread. Why step on that scale? Voila! My pot belly disappears.Hey, we can expand it to other government programs, like our beleaguered Department of Education. Our kids falling behind on math and science, reading comprehension and spelling? Easy-peasy. Just quit testing them!No need to give more money to the struggling Department of Agriculture to stem the influx of invasive species decimating crops from coffee to the iconic coconut palms. Quit counting those bugs already!“You don't fatten a pig by weighing it,” drawled a rural Florida legislator, back when standardized testing was proposed for the nation’s schools. But how do we know how skinny that pig is getting if we don’t even weigh that sucker?Sure, we can avert our eyes, not see the homeless problem, just like we try not to meet the eyes of the sad or belligerent people crowding our sidewalks as we carefully sidestep their little camps. We choose not to notice the families who are feeding their young children from beat-up old cars crowded with all their earthly possession in public lots, trying to help their kids live a normal life in a society that deliberately overlooks them. How might those kids thrive, to be the next Einstein or Tesla or even the next Bill Gates, if we don’t nurture them?We can legally skip a year. The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires the homeless count of unsheltered homeless just once every two years. But should we? We’ve counted them – or tried to count them -- every year since 2012, except for a break in 2020, when the pandemic kept everyone at home, whatever home looked like at the time.The most recent federal report shows total homeless people in Hawaii rose 87% between 2023 and 2024. (U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Annual Homeless Assessment Report.) Previous Hawaii counts have shown there are twice as many unsheltered homeless people than those in shelters. And while state and local agencies and nonprofits should be commended for taking the steps they have in trying to count our ever-elusive homeless population and help them into stable housing, it’s a daunting task. Last year’s count, for example, showed fewer unsheltered homeless on most Hawaiian Islands, even though those of us who are out regularly can see with our own eyes that’s not necessarily the case.“We did one last year; it was quite a bit of work, and so we opted not to do it this year,” Maude Cumming, a former chair of the neighbor island’s nonprofit contractors, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser. It’s not like the public hasn’t been generous donating to homeless charities. Three such nonprofits alone -- The Institute For Human Services Inc, HOPE Services Hawaii and Mental Health Kokua Safe Haven – reported almost $50 million revenue in their latest IRS filings.I’ve seen the tent cities crowding Honolulu’s sidewalks. I see the displaced every morning in Hilo, where they’re quick to collapse their tents and umbrellas and gather up their belongings into stolen shopping carts to clear the premises before the cops come around. Can’t let the tourists see them! Where do they spend their days? Who knows?But more importantly, who cares? I care. And so should you. Because if the most needy in our society aren’t counted – or don’t count – what does that say about us as a people?Nancy Cook Lauer, who’s covered state and local governments for more than 30 years in Hawaii and Florida, is the publisher of All Hawaii News (www.allhawaiinews.com)