The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority will kick off on January 23 of the 2024 homeless count, to capture a point-in-time snapshot of the homelessness crisis impacting the region.
Officially called the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count, it is expected to occur over three days from January 23 to 25. Thousands of volunteers are expected to spread out across the 4,000 square miles of L.A. County to conduct the count.
Traveling in small groups, volunteers will tally the number of unsheltered individuals, tents, vehicles, and make-shift shelters they see in their assigned Census tract.
Before the send-off, volunteers will receive their count materials and brief training. The annual homeless count will begin Tuesday night, starting in the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys.
On Wednesday, volunteers will be sent out to West L.A., Southeast L.A., and the South Bay area. On the final night, Thursday, counters will travel around the Antelope Valley, Metro L.A. and South L.A.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development requires a biennial point-in-time count of people experiencing homelessness, according to LAHSA.
In 2016, the homeless agency started organizing the count annually to provide improved analysis regarding the trends of people experiencing homelessness. Government agencies, including LAHSA, use the data collected to develop strategies to end homelessness and determine where funding and resources will do the most good.
According to the LAHSA, 2024 will mark the second year that volunteers
will use Esri’s Homeless Point in Time App to tally the number of people
and makeshift dwellings they find during their count.
This year, LAHSA is piloting geofencing within the Point in Time App to alert volunteers when they have moved outside their assigned census tract’s boundaries.
The annual Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count includes the Youth Count and the Housing Inventory Count. LAHSA will conduct the Youth Count from Jan. 22 through Jan. 31 and the Housing Inventory Count on Wednesday.
The 2023 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count revealed a 9% year-over-
year increase in homelessness in the county, and a 10% rise in the city. The
data showed 75,518 people experienced homelessness in the county, and 46,260 in the city of Los Angeles, an increase from 69,144 in the county, and 41,980 in the city in 2022.
[City News Service]
