By Gabby McIntyre
Homeless officials in Los Angeles County have announced that the unsheltered homeless rates in the county have declined for a second year in a row. This comes after the California state governor’s website released a report at the end of 2024 stating that California has slowed the homelessness increase in the state more than the entire country. Recent data released by the Los Angela Homeless Services Authority show a projected housed homelessness decline between 5% to 10%. The exact amount will not be known until the full analysis is complete in a few months.
Based on the count of observations done by voulenteers there are 2,700 fewer vehicles and coverages on the streets and 900 less people but the final results of the data will not be finished until spring or summer 2025. The results are predicted to see a drastic drop in the unhoused population
Va Lecia Adams Kellum, the LAHSA Chief Executive, has focused her work heavily on getting people off the streets feels the data has helped legitified their work. “We have said that it will probably take about three years for unsheltered homeless to go down…. It’s taken us two.” Kellum stated.
References:
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. (2025, March 20). Preliminary count data shows decrease in unsheltered homelessness. https://www.lahsa.org/news?article=1028-preliminary-count-data-shows-decrease-in-unsheltered-homelessness
Office of Governor Gavin Newsom. (2024, December 27). California outperforms the nation in reducing the growth of homelessness, state sees largest decrease in veteran homelessness in the nation. State of California. https://www.gov.ca.gov/2024/12/27/california-outperforms-the-nation-in-reducing-the-growth-of-homelessness-state-sees-largest-decrease-in-veteran-homelessness-in-the-nation/
Smith, D. (2025, March 20). Unsheltered homelessness projected to be down over much of L.A. County. Los Angeles Times. https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2025-03-20/unsheltered-homelessness-projected-to-be-down-over-much-of-l-a-county