The Rising Homelessness Numbers in L.A.
In 2019, LA's homeless services system placed nearly 23,000 people in homes, according to the report by the LA Homeless Services Authority. "If we were in any other jurisdiction, we'd be celebrating the fact that we take that many people out of homelessness," said LA County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas, one of the politicians at the top of LA's diffuse and byzantine homelessness bureaucracy, which also includes city government and the Homeless Services Authority, a city-county agency that conducts the annual count. "We've got to find ways to stem the inflow."
On top of high rents and a shortage of affordable housing, the Homeless Services Authority points to stagnant wages and systemic racism that affect housing, health care, justice and economic policies as major contributors to the crisis. The agency reports that black people make up only 8% of the total population but 34% of people experiencing homelessness in LA County.
The programs available in L.A. County to tackle the rise of homelessness is not enough. We need to have more faster and more efficient programs and infrastructures.