LAHSA to review 2026 homeless count numbers

The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday called for a review of this year’s point-in-time homeless count, citing potential errors, including a possible overcount of unhoused people in some parts of the city and an undercount of people staying in shelters elsewhere.

Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said during the meeting he believed there were “glaring problems” with homeless count numbers for some parts of his district because they didn’t align with what he and others had observed.

He pointed to one part of South L.A. where the numbers of unhoused residents skyrocketed, according to the agency responsible for the count — the regional L.A. Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA.

LAHSA’s count of unsheltered people in that census tract was more than 10 times higher in 2026 than previous years, and Harris-Dawson says that is not accurate.

Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said this year’s count did not initially include some people staying at shelters in his district, because of what he described as a “glitch” in how some data was counted.

The council voted unanimously to call for the review.

After the meeting Wednesday, LAHSA told LAist that it would launch an investigation.

Ahmad Chapman, a spokesperson for the agency, said in a statement that the annual count “produces reliable regional-level estimates” of the unhoused people living in the region, but that it would follow the City Council’s directives.

“We recognize the specific concerns raised by the Council, and we will ensure a disciplined evaluation by leveraging the expertise of our Risk Management Department throughout this internal review,” Chapman said. “Our priority is to identify precise operational or technical issues, report our findings back to the City, and make appropriate changes to our process.”

It is not yet clear when the review will be completed or when updated numbers will be released.

Questions about the count

LAHSA conducts the point-in-time count as required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. It is used by the federal government to determine how millions of dollars in federal grants are distributed and gives local officials an annual snapshot of how many people are unhoused in their districts.

Errors have been found in the count in the past, and observers have questioned its accuracy.

An LAist investigation found that the 2024 count was complicated from policy changes at LAHSA, shifting guidelines and technical problems.

The next year, a report by the RAND Corporation found the count had gotten less accurate and captured just 68% of the unsheltered population in Skid Row, Venice and Hollywood.

Blumenfield said during the Wednesday meeting that he has had issues with the count’s data in his district nearly every year. He noted there had been problems in previous years with the app LAHSA used for the count not working properly. He also claimed LAHSA overcounted RVs.

LAist asked LAHSA about Blumenfield’s comments but the agency’s response did not refer specifically to that particular claim about the RVs.

As for this year, Blumenfield said some people in his district who stayed in shelters that were part of the state’s Project Homekey program were initially excluded from the count because of the aforementioned “glitch.” He did not explain during the meeting how LAHSA had missed the Homekey shelters.

Councilmember Imelda Padilla said she, too, had observed that some numbers from shelters in her district were not reflected in LAHSA’s data.

Blumenfield said LAHSA had been slow to respond previously when confronted with these complaints.

“We approach LAHSA,” he said, “and oftentimes it takes months and months to finally get a resolution.”

An area of concern

The latest count showed homelessness in District 8, covering much of South L.A., increased by 128% from 2025 to 2026.

Harris-Dawson said the rise didn’t align with what he and others in his office had seen on the streets.

In one census tract covering the residential West Park Terrace neighborhood, LAHSA reported that the number of unhoused people observed during the count — not including dwellings like vehicles or encampments — went from fewer than 20 in recent years to 277 in 2026.

“The census tract is in the neighborhood I live in, so I know for a fact that this cannot be the correct number,” Harris-Dawson said during the Wednesday council meeting. “We'd notice 25 new homeless people, much less two hundred and fifty.”

He told LAist he expects a review of the count to provide “a number reflective of the reality on site.”

But some people who live in the area told LAist this week that they do believe homelessness has been on the rise since last year.

 Derrick Johnson told LAist he grew up near the St. Andrews Recreation Center, where for the past six months he has been staying in an RV.

Like others he pointed to who live around him on the same street, he was in permanent supportive housing through a Section 8 voucher until it expired.

He said he felt the services meant to help had failed him and rent was too high, so he decided to spend $4,200 on an RV.

 Derrick Johnson points to his RV he lives in on Aug. 26, 2026. Johnson says his Section 8 permanent supportive housing voucher expired without him knowing, pushing him back to living on the streets.

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Jordan Rynning

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“ I did the program . . . I did all that, and you telling me I ain't got no spot?” he said. "F— y'all, I got me an RV now.”

Vincent Benton doesn’t have an RV. He told LAist he doesn’t have a tent or sleeping bag to stay in.

He said he has family nearby who try to help him, but drug use and a criminal record have kept him unhoused for now.

“I blow in the wind, and wherever the wind takes me, you know, I go for broke,” he said.

Vincent Benton sits on a bench at the St. Andrews Recreation Center with his dog, May-Two, on Aug. 26, 2026.

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Jordan Rynning

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He said he’s been seeing more unhoused people coming to the area looking for a place to stay.

“ In a minute, all of South Central gonna look like downtown LA,” he said.