SANTA MONICA—The city of Santa Monica will hold its yearly homeless count on Wednesday, January 25, 2012 from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. The Homeless Count is held by staff from the city, and service agencies team up with several volunteers to count the number of people sleeping on every Santa Monica Street, reports the Santa Monica Government website.

Volunteers and staff team up with service agencies for The Homeless Count in Santa Monica. Photo courtesy of the Santa Monica Government website.

The homeless count takes place every two years by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for all communities that receive federal funds for the homelessness programs. Volunteers from Santa Monica conduct the counts annually to track the changes in homelessness. The 2011 Homeless Count reported no changes in the individuals living in the City of Santa Monica from last year. A two-year comparison from 2009-2011 notes a 19 percent decrease within homelessness in Santa Monica.

According to reports, the overall homeless rate was almost the same as of 2010. In 2007, the total was 999 percent. The 2009 total added to 915 percent, an 8 percent decrease from 2007. The 2010 total equaled to 742 percent, which was an 18.9 percent decrease from the 2009 year and a 25 percent reduction from the 2007 year. While this year was 740 percent, which included 263 people on the streets, 426 in shelters and institutions, and 51 percent living in cars.

In a study from the National Alliance to End Homelessness (NAEH), close to 700,000 people experience homelessness on any occasion within the United States. Of those homeless, approximately 12 percent are U.S. military veterans. About 51,000 individuals are estimated to be homeless on any given night within Los Angeles County, and 18 percent of those people are U.S. Military veterans.

Based on another report given by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), among the largest ethnicity group suffering from homelessness within both L.A. County and the City of Los Angeles are African Americans with 43.7 percent to 47.3 percent and Latinos with 24.4 percent to 27.7 percent. In that same report, 71.9 percent of those homeless in 2009 were between the ages of 25-54, and this year that same age group had a slight decrease with 62.5 percent.

The city council of Santa Monica put together the Action Plan to Address homelessness in Santa Monica in February of 2008. The purpose of the Action Plan is to focus on efforts and resources through partner agency services and initiatives from the city. The Action Plan focuses on six project areas: services, housing, evaluation, community, education, public policy and collaboration with regional partners. The Fiscal Year 2011-2014 Action Plan was designed to reflect the city’s Human Services Grant multi-year funding cycle. The federal government is developing regulations that will prevent and end homelessness in the near future.

More statistical information on homelessness within L.A. County and Los Angeles area can be found at lahsa.org.

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