Why is it so hard for LA's homeless count to figure out how many families are unsheltered?

Volunteers fanned out across the region this month for L.A.’s annual homeless count to get a census of the unhoused population. But advocates say there’s one population that’s especially hard to get an accurate count of: families.

The way the count works is that volunteers count who they can physically see on the streets.

Homeless services providers say that doesn’t work with families because families don’t usually experience homelessness out on the streets. Instead, they are more likely to be living discreetly in their cars, in motels or doubled up in suboptimal units.

“ We know they're there. They're our clients. We see them when they come, and they are referred [to us] by the schools, by 211, by the faith community. We see them but not through the count,” said Constanza Pachon, CEO of The Whole Child, an agency that serves families in southeast L.A. County.

What is the situation for unhoused families in the LA area?

Last year, homelessness declined overall in the region, but not for families with children. And service providers say even that was an undercount. In the region where Pachon serves, the count estimated a total of 265 families experiencing homelessness, but the agency serves about 2,500 families a year.

“There have been homeless counts in the previous years in which we don't see any families at all,” said Pachon, whose agency is running a site for the count in East L.A.

Providers worry they’ll see more families struggling with homelessness with funding cuts to the services system. Pachon says they’ve been at capacity over the past year and have a running waitlist for families who need housing services.

Mark Hood, CEO of Union Rescue Mission, volunteered the night of January 20 and walked nine miles through downtown Los Angeles. He said he didn’t encounter any families, but his agency, which runs shelters, has been seeing a rising need among families with children.

“We have certainly, last summer and into the fall, seen more families come through our door,” he said.

Learn more about homelessness in LA

• LA County launches new homelessness department: ‘The buck is going to stop with us’: The new L.A. County Homeless Services and Housing department takes the mantle from the embattled regional L.A. Homeless Services Authority, known as LAHSA, which until now has overseen the funding and administration of homeless services across a county where more than 72,000 people experience homelessness on any given night.
• California counties must jump through new hoops to get homelessness funds: Despite California’s large recent investments in homelessness, encampments are still rampant on city streets. But cities and counties already are chafing under tightening requirements they worry will make it harder to access crucial state funds without directly improving conditions on the street.
• How an overloaded homelessness system left this LA family living in their car: Many Los Angeles families have struggled to find housing over the past several months as options dry up. And now it could get even harder in the face of a county proposal to cut homeless services funding in order to close a deficit.