The homeless population in Los Angeles County rose by 9% over last year, with double-digit increases reported for those living unsheltered on the street, according to data released Thursday, June 29 by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.
A point-in-time count conducted Jan. 24-Jan. 26 this year reported that 75,518 people experience homelessness on any night in L.A. County, with the number of unsheltered individuals rising from 48,548 to 55,155, for a 14% jump. Unsheltered adults made up more than 70% of all the homeless people counted, not including tallies done separately in Glendale, Pasadena and Long Beach.
In the city of L.A., homelessness rose by 10% over last year, increasing from 41,980 to 46,260, a steady rise since 2018. The L.A. numbers are included in the total L.A. County figures.
The Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, done mostly by volunteers overseen by LAHSA, paints a troubling picture of an intractable problem that persists even after government entities have spent hundreds of millions of dollars trying to fix it.
Despite three straight years of more than 20,000 housing placements reported by LAHSA, these efforts are not keeping up with the in-flow of the recently homeless who can’t afford to keep a roof over their heads due to exorbitant rent hikes, insufficient incomes, or both, experts said.
“The results are disappointing but they are not surprising,” said LAHSA CEO Va Lecia Adams Kellum., who has been on the job about three months. “We thought with last year’s numbers we were flattening the curve.”
In fact, the 2022 survey only found a 4.1% rise over 2020, which many care-providers interpreted as a leveling off from previous increases due to efforts such as Project Room Key, a program that sheltered homeless people in vacant motels and hotel rooms.
“We are seeing people falling into homelessness faster than we can house them,” said Adams Kellum on Tuesday. “It is reflective of a trend we are seeing…
Read the full article here
