LA City Council makes claims of ‘glaring problems’ with latest homeless count; calls for review<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday called for a review of this year\u2019s 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. Jordan Rynning has more.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles City Council on Wednesday called for a review of this year\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
Council President Marqueece Harris-Dawson said during the meeting he believed there were \u201cglaring problems\u201d with homeless count numbers for some parts of his district because they didn\u2019t align with what he and others had observed.<\/p>\n
He pointed to one part of South L.A. where the numbers of unhoused residents skyrocketed, according to the agency responsible for the count \u2014 the regional L.A. Homeless Services Authority, or LAHSA.<\/p>\n
LAHSA\u2019s 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.<\/p>\n
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Councilmember Bob Blumenfield said this year\u2019s count did not initially include some people staying at shelters in his district, because of what he described as a \u201cglitch\u201d in how some data was counted.<\/p>\n
The council voted unanimously to call for the review.<\/p>\n
After the meeting Wednesday, LAHSA told LAist that it would launch an investigation.<\/p>\n
Ahmad Chapman, a spokesperson for the agency, said in a statement that the annual count \u201cproduces reliable regional-level estimates\u201d of the unhoused people living in the region, but that it would follow the City Council\u2019s directives.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe 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,\u201d Chapman said. \u201cOur priority is to identify precise operational or technical issues, report our findings back to the City, and make appropriate changes to our process.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is not yet clear when the review will be completed or when updated numbers will be released.<\/p>\n
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Questions about the count<\/p>\n
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.<\/p>\n
Errors have been found in the count in the past, and observers have questioned its accuracy.<\/p>\n
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