New LA Homeless Numbers Will Be Released Thursday

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority will release the results of its regional 2023 homeless count on Thursday morning.

Conducted every year — with a one-year gap in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic — the homeless count provides a snapshot of how many people are experiencing homelessness on any given night in L.A. County.

These counts have shown homelessness rising by about 31% across L.A. County between 2018 and 2022.

What we know from last year’s count

The results from last year’s count, conducted in Feb. 2022, showed homelessness continuing to rise from prior years, but at a slower rate.

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The number of people experiencing homelessness across L.A. County increased by 4.1% to a total of 69,144.

The increase was even smaller within the city of L.A., which saw a 1.7% rise in 2022 to a total of 41,980 people. When the results were released in September 2022, housing advocates credited COVID-19 eviction protections and rent relief efforts with slowing the rise of homelessness.

The 2022 count showed homelessness had risen sharply among Latinos.

When this year’s count took place

This year’s count, conducted from Jan. 24 through Jan. 26, involved volunteers fanning out across L.A. County over the course of three nights to count the number of people sleeping on the streets, in tents or in vehicles. It took place six weeks after L.A. Mayor Karen Bass was sworn in and declared a state of emergency on homelessness on her first day in office.

The L.A County Board of Supervisors declared a similar emergency on Jan. 10.

Demographers use the tallies gathered in the count, coupled with more in-depth surveys of people experiencing homelessness, to estimate how many people on average are living in each tent or car.

The count also relies on data from homeless service providers to capture the number of unhoused people staying in shelters on those nights.

The count’s limitations

The homeless count is, at best, an imperfect estimate of homelessness in L.A. County. It doesn’t capture individuals who are temporarily couch surfing with friends of family, but lack stable housing of their own. And volunteers may not be able to see everyone living on the streets.

L.A. city council members criticized last year’s homeless count, approving an audit to investigate issues with the smartphone app used by volunteers and unbelievable drops reported in certain parts of the city. LAHSA officials say this year’s count used a new, improved app and gave volunteers the option to use paper records as a backup.