Annual count of homeless residents begins in Los Angeles, where tens of thousands live on streets
NY Post
Los Angeles County’s annual count of homeless residents began Tuesday night — a crucial part of the region’s efforts to confront the crisis of tens of thousands of people living on the streets.
Up to 6,000 volunteers with the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority fanned out for the effort’s main component, the unsheltered street tally.
The so-called “point-in-time” count will take place over three days and aims to estimate how many people are unhoused and what services they may require, such as mental health or drug addiction treatment.
LA County’s undertaking is the largest among similar tallies in major cities nationwide.
The tally, which also makes use of demographic surveys and shelter counts, is mandated by the federal government for cities to receive certain kinds of funding.
The count this year comes amid increasing public outrage over the perceived failure — despite costly efforts — to reduce the surging population of people living in cars, tents and makeshift street shelters.
