Los Angeles County's annual count of homeless residents began Tuesday night. This is an important part of the region's efforts to tackle the crisis of tens of thousands of people living on the streets.
Up to 6,000 volunteers from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority participated in the outdoor street count, a key component of the effort.
The so-called “point-in-time” tally is done over three days and aims to estimate how many people are homeless and what services they need, such as mental health or drug addiction treatment. .
Los Angeles County's effort is the largest such tally in a major U.S. city.
The tally also uses demographic surveys and shelter counts, and the federal government requires cities to receive certain types of funding.
This year's count comes amid growing public anger over the perceived failure of costly efforts to reduce the burgeoning population living in cars, tents and makeshift street shelters. Ta.
The 2023 initiative reported that more than 75,500 people were homeless on any given night in Los Angeles County, a 9% increase from the previous year.
There were approximately 46,200 people in Los Angeles, but the number of tents mushrooming on sidewalks and parks has increased public dissatisfaction.
Since 2015, homelessness has increased by 70% in the county and 80% in the city.
Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, along with city and county officials, began the count Tuesday night in the North Hollywood neighborhood of Los Angeles' San Fernando Valley.
Bass said in a statement that the count is “an important tool in combating the homelessness crisis.” “Homelessness is an emergency, and we all need to work together to combat this emergency.”
On his first day in office in December 2022, Bass declared a state of emergency on homelessness.
One year into his term, the Democratic mayor announced that more than 21,000 unhoused people will be moved to rental hotels and other temporary shelters in 2023, an increase of 28% from the previous year. It is.
Last month, he said dozens of drug-infested street camps were cleared and plans for housing construction were underway.
City Hall, the City Council and the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors said they would work together to address this crisis.
Despite billions of dollars spent on programs to curb homelessness, progress is not always obvious.
Homelessness remains evident across California, with people living in tents and cars and sleeping outdoors on sidewalks and under freeway overpasses.
Los Angeles County homeless count results are expected to be released in late spring or early summer.
