Last month a program called Project 50 aimed at identifying homeless individuals most in need of immediate housing was begun in Los Angeles, and a similar program kicked off today in the City of Santa Monica.

This morning teams began training for safety and census-taking skills, and are preparing to take to the streets early next week in the late night (or early morning) hours, tracking the areas where groups of homeless people congregate and sleep. Particular statistics and variables are being sought in order to determine which ten people need housing the most, including, per a press release, "length of homelessness and physical and mental health status" which is used to estimate the individual's likelihood of not surviving street living.

Once the "Top Ten" are located and housed, the teams and their organizations--who have been working under the banner of the Chronic Homeless Project (CHP) since 2004--will work with Santa Monica's Human Services Division to locate the next ten individuals who meet their criteria for housing.

A briefing on the findings of the survey process and the identification of the most vulnerable homeless people will be held on Thursday, January 31 at 3 p.m. at the Santa Monica Main Library Auditorium, which is located at 601 Santa Monica Boulevard in Santa Monica.

Photo of the coastline in Santa Monica by Mil8 via the LAist Featured Photo Pool on Flickr