The latest numbers on homelessness in L.A. County are both promising and vexing.
On Friday, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority announced that 2023 set a record for unhoused people entering permanent housing. Officials said the county’s rehousing system made 27,300 long-term housing placements last year, a 21% increase from the previous year.
Fixing homelessness is top of mind for many in our region. Local taxpayers have voted multiple times to tax themselves to raise billions to combat the issue.
And you might think all those move-ins led to fewer people experiencing homelessness. But homelessness actually plateaued in 2024, declining by an almost negligible 0.27% across L.A. County to a total of 75,312 people.
That’s because, officials say, for every person placed into permanent housing, others are losing their housing and joining the ranks of L.A.’s unhoused.
“There is that sense that people are still falling in faster than we’re able to house them,” said Va Lecia Adams Kellum, CEO of the homeless services authority.
Many are on their first spell of homelessness
In this year’s count, 68% of people living without shelter in L.A. County said they were experiencing homelessness for the first time.
Why is the number of people falling into homelessness still so stubbornly high? A majority of newly unsheltered people said they became homeless due to economic hardships (54%) rather than health problems (17%) or being discharged from an institutional system (14%).
Those survey numbers mirror statewide research that points to high housing costs as a primary driver of homelessness.
A recent California-wide study conducted by UC San…
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