The 2024 Los Angeles homeless count registered a noteworthy 10% decrease in unsheltered homelessness within city limits, a glimmer of hope amid a backdrop of rising homelessness across the wider L.A. County.
This decline marks a contrast to prior counts, which consistently showed increasing homelessness numbers despite escalated funding aimed at addressing the crisis.
City officials, including L.A. Mayor Karen Bass and Va Lecia Adams Kellum, the then-chief executive of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), hailed this drop as evidence that their extensive homelessness initiatives are yielding positive results.
However, many residents and advocates expressed skepticism, arguing that the apparent reduction did not align with their observations in the streets.
To delve deeper into how LAHSA produced their count results, LAist investigated the methodologies and raw data underpinning the official announcements made in June.
It emerged that the 2024 count faced complications due to shifts in policies at LAHSA, changes in guidelines, and various technical difficulties — particularly in how individuals were counted within the city of Los Angeles compared to other regions in L.A. County.
The counting process involved volunteers and LAHSA staff surveying more than 3,000 census tracts over nearly 4,000 square miles, gathering data through a mobile app and, in instances of technical failure, via handwritten forms.
The resulting homeless count is primarily an estimate based on observations made at a specific “point in time.”
After volunteers conducted their assessments, LAHSA staff reviewed the raw data for verification, with final results typically released months later.
However, LAist’s analysis found that LAHSA excluded a greater number of observations recorded by volunteers in 2024 than in previous years.
In fact, approximately 2,300 additional observations from the 2024 count were discarded compared to the previous year, disproportionately affecting counts within Los Angeles city limits.
A closer look at the data revealed that 87% of observations made outside of the city’s jurisdiction were included in the final numbers for 2024, which was comparable to inclusion rates in 2023.
Conversely, only 78% of observations taken within L.A. city limits made it to the final tally for 2024, signaling a significant drop in included data.
LAist identified nine specific areas within the city where over 100 observations of homelessness were excluded from LAHSA’s preliminary totals.
LAHSA officials, while acknowledging inaccuracies in preliminary data, argued that the final count was ultimately higher than initial observations in some regions.
They attributed data exclusion to errors in volunteer entries, which could render preliminary observations “unambiguously invalid.”
Ahmad Chapman, a spokesperson for LAHSA, emphasized that these decisions were made carefully and reiterated that the count serves as an estimate rather than an absolute figure.
“It’s important to note that Homeless Count data is just one measure of our system.
While significant, it plays a specific and limited role,” Chapman stated.
In response to the findings, Zach Seidl, a spokesperson for Mayor Bass, affirmed that the 2024 homeless count results had received federal certification and acknowledged the ongoing work needed to address the crisis.
Councilmember Monica Rodriguez, who was involved in the city’s housing and homelessness committee, expressed doubts about the count’s fidelity.
“Are we measuring apples to apples?” Rodriguez challenged, implicating possible discrepancies in the counting methodology that might skew public perception of progress.
After serving as mayor for over a year and implementing a state of emergency focused on homelessness from Day One, Bass faced her first major test with the 2024 count—an expected gauge of the effectiveness of her administration’s initiatives.
The counting process commenced on January 23, 2024, lasting three days and mostly conducted at night.
Volunteers received minimal training on identifying homelessness signs and documenting their observations in a mobile app developed by Esri, a local software corporation.
Guidelines instructed volunteers to only make observations within their designated census tracts, supported by GPS technology aimed at preventing duplicate counts.
However, technical problems arose that hindered the counting process as volunteers reported issues logging into the app, often forced to wait for extended periods before commencing their work.
Data entry mistakes were common, with specific instances raised by volunteers that illustrated discrepancies in reported observations and final counts.
For example, in North Hollywood, volunteers recorded over 50 individuals living outdoors near a shelter administered by LA Family Housing but were told by a site coordinator that no unhoused individuals were counted, impacting data submission.
This example highlights the complexities and fragility of the counting mechanism.
Timothy Woodhead, a long-term resident of a makeshift shelter near North Hollywood, remarked on the seeming disconnect between reported figures and lived reality.
“Maybe they’ve gotten a lot more people inside the tiny homes and stuff like that, but there are still plenty of homeless people out here,” Woodhead articulated, voicing sentiments shared by many.
Efforts to amend erroneous app entries were complicated, leading some volunteers to revert to paper maps as necessary backups.
For the 2024 count, LAHSA reportedly relied on paper backup forms for over 400 census tract assignments, yet not all data gathered on these forms was included in the final count.
The irreconcilable data discrepancies illustrate systemic issues within LAHSA’s counting methodology and management.
LAist’s review documented experiences of volunteers who consistently encountered technology challenges, making accurate counts exceedingly difficult in high-density areas densely populated by unhoused individuals.
As outlined in a 2024 report presented to the L.A. County Board of Supervisors, issues with the count’s methodology triggered concerns about the dependability of the data gathered.
Bevin Kuhn, who managed homeless count data for LAHSA, indicated that improvements have since been made, including the development of a new app designed to facilitate the counting process for the 2025 iteration.
In an unusual move, LAHSA released data from the February 2025 count in March—earlier than typically expected.
While preliminary, this data again suggested a reduction in unsheltered homelessness, which city officials viewed as continued validation for their programs.
Critics, including Pete White of L.A. CAN, charged that LAHSA’s rapid release of figures was politically motivated, bolstering City Hall’s narrative of success amid ongoing challenges and scrutiny surrounding the agency’s transparency and accountability.
Questions surrounding the business practices of LAHSA echo broader community concerns over the credibility of the homeless count.
Councilmember Bob Blumenfield articulated a growing sense of distrust affecting his district’s past counts, noting that “it is hard to remember a time where we felt that we could trust the data 100%.”
As L.A. continues to grapple with its homelessness crisis, the conflicting narratives surrounding the 2024 count remain potent reminders of the challenges facing the city.
The culmination of issues with data processing, app functionality, and volunteer processes represent obstacles in achieving an accurate and reliable count, jeopardizing the supportive actions based on these figures.
The Los Angeles homeless count remains a critical tool for understanding the scope of homelessness in the area, yet shortcomings in methodology threaten to distort perceptions of progress and effectiveness in addressing the crisis.
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