CITYWIDE — Service needs to house the Westside’s homeless and help them get back on their feet may become clearer with the release of first-time ever demographic information concerning them.
Census data collected a year ago in efforts to address the regional homeless problem was revealed during a press conference last week. The 198-page report contains detailed demographic information about the county’s homeless population, which poli-cymakers are expected to use to tailor social service programming in the region and in Santa Monica.
Included in the report is a breakdown of the Westside’s down and out, a geographic region that borders south at LAX Airport; along the furthest eastern border of Westminister, Culver City and Beverly Hills; north along the county line and west from the beaches of Playa del Rey all the way through Malibu.
The total homeless population counted in this particular region is 6,860, with a projected annual number of 14,886 individuals who are homeless at some time in the year within this region.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority — the group charged with addressing homeless issues for the county — conducted its homeless head count last January with the assistance of 1,000 volunteers and paid homeless workers. The count was conducted, in large part, so the county could access an estimated $60 million in grant funding from the federal department of Housing and Urban Development for homeless programs and mental health services.
The LAHSA report shows the 6,860 who are homeless on the Westside account for 8 percent of the 82,291 individuals estimated to be homeless at any given time within the metropolitan area, 52 percent of whom are considered “chronically homeless” — which means they have been on the streets for a year or more, or have had at least four episodes of homelessness in the past three years. The “chronically homeless” also suffer from one or more disability, mental illness or substance abuse.
LAHSA’s total head count excludes the cities of Glendale, Long Beach and Pasadena. The number of homeless in those cities totaled a combined 6,054 people in separate surveys. An additional 4,360 people were housed in hospitals, jails and rehabilitation facilities, but did not meet the federal government’s guidelines for being homeless.
The Westside’s unsheltered homeless continue to out-number by far those who are in shelters. Of the 6,860 homeless people living in the Westside, 5,889, or 86 percent, didn’t have a roof over their head at the time the count was taken. The remaining 971 individuals (14 percent) had been granted access to a shelter.
Three-hundred-and-ninety homeless families were counted in the Westside last year, totaling 1,185 individuals, or 17 percent of the total local homeless population; and of them 747, or 63 percent, were youngsters.
The Westside’s homeless are mostly men, who make up 4,316, or 62 percent of the total local population.
Nearly 50 percent of the total local homeless population is white; 28 percent is black and 10 percent is Latino. The rest, 878 individuals, or 12 percent, are multi-racial.
In terms of age, 4,375 of the local homeless, or 64 percent, are between 25 and 55; 899 of them, or 13 percent, are under 18; 823 individuals, or 12 percent, are between 18 and 24; and 763 of them, or 11 percent, are older than 56.
Of the Westside’s homeless population, 3,876 individuals, or 62 percent, consider themselves substance users; 2,531 of them, or nearly 37 percent, are mentally ill; and 1,852, or 27 percent, are veterans.
Meanwhile, general findings in the full report indicate that a significant portion of the county’s homeless were once functioning members of society, but events in their lives led to their status.
As many as 24 percent of all the homeless counted last year indicated that loss of their job was the primary factor which led to life on the streets. Almost 35 percent were experiencing a physical disability, and 34 percent were experiencing a mental disability.
In terms of education, 38 percent of those counted had a high school diploma or GED, while 16 percent polled had taken some college courses.
Los Angeles has been attempting to bolster its homeless efforts in recent months.
The county’s board of supervisors, which help fund LAHSA, gave the agency a $24.6 million budget boost for the next fiscal year.
Recently passed Proposition 63 will provide funding for the homeless in the region who are mentally ill.
Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has made a commitment on behalf of the city to provide $50 million in housing for homeless services, along with supporting a $1 billion bond measure to develop more affordable housing in the city.
Nearly half — 44 percent — said they weren’t receiving any money from government sources, and 28 percent of those surveyed indicated they tried to access an emergency shelter within 30 days of being polled and were turned away.
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on January 19, 2006. Read the original PDF.