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Fade to black – Is government leveraging homeless agencies out of business? Thursday, March, 4, 2010
Is politics the problem or the solution to homelessness? Monday, March, 1, 2010
Why do you hate in the name of God? Monday, February, 22, 2010
Cardboard is for shipping, not for housing Thursday, February, 18, 2010
Throw the bums out—RPG game re homeless should be sent back Monday, February, 15, 2010
Down-sizing affordable housing could increase the reduction of homelessness Thursday, February, 11, 2010
Down and exploited in Beverly Hills - Is TMZ.com exploiters? Monday, February, 8, 2010
Is marriage the solution to poverty or is it the cause of poverty? Saturday, February, 6, 2010
Book on homeless man and Los Angeles journalist is highlighted by Long Beach Book Week Thursday, February, 4, 2010
Why homelessness is decreasing while hunger and poverty is increasing
Friday, November, 6, 2009
Saddam’s Baghdad Bob Is Not Announcing Homeless Numbers In L.A.
Saddam Hussein’s Information Minister is infamous for standing on the streets of Baghdad, while missiles are flying through the air, confidently stating that American troops were not in the city, and were committing suicide by the hundreds at the city’s gates. When in reality, our troops were on the verge of taking the Iraqi capital in 2003.
After the announcement of a 38% reduction in homelessness in Los Angeles, the homeless capital of America, during the worst economic downturn since the depression, some stakeholders are mocking this as a blunder. This is not the case.
The press release from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), a county and city joint homeless powers authority, announced a decrease in homelessness from 73,000 to 48,000 in the past two years. That means 25,000 people in Los Angeles are no longer homeless.
The results alone stir debate, especially when last month 12.7% of the county’s population did not have a job. When the County Department of Public Social Services reported that homeless families in need of public assistance through Calworks jumped from 6,009 in July 2007 to 8,118 in July 2009. A 26% increase in homeless families, when the latest count announced a 10% reduction in family homelessness. When foreclosures in Los Angeles in 2007 increased by 125%.
Could an announcement of this magnitude, in the middle of an economy that is ravaging the average family and person, be true?
In order to receive federal funding for homelessness, local jurisdictions are mandated to carry out homeless counts. Typically, when there is a decrease in numbers due to a homeless count, the reasons are varied: homeless people are actually being housed, the counting methodology is perfected, homeless people move out of the jurisdiction, and/or people living on the streets learn how to dodge the count.
In Los Angeles’ case, a decrease in homelessness meant all four of these reasons occurred, not just because 25,000 people were housed.
The Mayor of Los Angeles recently announced at the grand opening of a Skid Row homeless healthcare center that the city has built or is planning to build 1,000 permanent housing units for people who are homeless. That number, although significant, is far from 25,000 units.
The cities in the region that actually counted every person who was homeless on their streets reported much less dramatic results. Santa Monica reported a decrease of 8%, Long Beach reported a 2% increase, and Pasadena had an 18% increase in the past two years.
Because of the vast size of the region, the county’s homeless count was a combination of actual counting of people, telephone surveys, and statistical projections. Counting homeless people in Los Angeles County is a major endeavor, fraught with large margins of error and significant logistical barriers. Let alone, the political undertones.
After three attempts of enumerating people living on our streets, LAHSA has perfected this to the point that the final number is more accurate than previous years. The number crunching has been perfected, but the gathering of numbers will continue to be a challenge.
LAHSA is not putting out figures for propaganda sake. But in order to make sense with a number that appears to be counter to the current economic environment, this recent count should not be compared with previous count numbers. The community can embrace the latest homeless count number as accurate, with an appropriate margin of error. But let’s not dwell on the debate whether homelessness has decreased or not.
With 48,000 people who are homeless in Los Angeles County, there is so much more that needs to be done.
Posted 2009-11-06 17:14:48
A Third Wave Of Addressing Homelesness Tuesday, December 30, 2008
Civil Overestimation Friday, April 3, 2009
WWYD? Monday, November 13, 2006
705 Missing Homeless People: Where Did They Go? Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Body Found In A River Near Long Beach
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