2022 LAHSA Pit Count

PIT (Point in Time) counts are a critical source of data on the number and characteristics of people who are experiencing homeless in the United States. These data are used to measure homelessness on a local, state, and national level and are published annually via HUD and local governments. LAHSA (Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority) leads the PIT Count each year for the City of LA as well as the majority of the county.

The methodology that LAHSA uses is counting people in structures with a sampling approach. A sampling survey, similar to a poll, is done to determine the number of people in tents, vehicles, and other outdoor situations. Then a large-scale operation of counting tents and vehicles occurs throughout the Continuum of Care (CoC). LAHSA uses both of these methods to extrapolate the total PIT Count in a given area. This year, the PIT Count took place over 3 days in February 2022 (Feb 22-Feb 24).

*Health & disability indicators are not mutually exclusive; a single person may report more than one condition and thus be represented among more than one health & disability subpopulation.

** Countywide Metrics are not available.

Below are a series of maps visualizing hot spot zones where people experiencing homelessness are located in the City of LA by council district and census tract.

• In the past four years, in partnership with the County, we have housed over 86,000 people (2018-2021) and the number of sheltered persons has increased by 55%.
• Over the last two years, in the middle of the pandemic, the City built 10 Tiny Home Villages and 20 A Bridge Home sites. We also acquired 20 properties with HomeKey 1 and now another 15 properties for Homekey 2 coming. That’s a total of almost 6,000 new beds with those projects alone.
• With the urgent need to keep the most vulnerable PEH safe from COVID, we were able to activate Project Room Key with 14 sites serving over 10,000 clients.
• And since the 2022 PIT Count in February, the City created 300 new interim housing beds and opened close to 500 new PSH units, with 1,900 more expected to come online by the end of the year, 
• There are 4 more interim housing sites in construction adding another 591 interim beds to the city’s portfolio.

• Passed in 2016, Proposition HHH created a locally-generated, dedicated source of funding for the streamlined development of permanent supportive housing (PSH), which has allowed the City of Los Angeles to significantly increase PSH production over the past few years.
• With investments from HHH, L.A. County, State, Federal and private funding sources, we are on track to surpass our original goal, building over 170 projects with 12,000 new affordable and supportive housing units  by 2026. 
• The City’s annual production of supportive housing units has grown by over 600%, from 300 to over 2,000 units per year (see chart below).
• By the end of 2022, more than over 90 projects with over 4,200 PSH units will be completed.
• The City's PSH projects are not only new homes, but also community spaces that bring vibrancy to the neighborhood, where tenants can access the wraparound supportive services they need to get back on their feet. 
• Implementing a 'Housing First' approach by building more affordable and supportive housing is an evidence-based solution for addressing our homelessness crisis.

This year's marginal increase shows that with strong leadership and priority alignments from Federal, State, and County partners. We can significantly impact the decade-long rise in homelessness in our City.

• Under 18
• 18-24
• 55 and older
• Families
• Chronic Homelessness
• Veterans
• Black PEH
• White PEH

• Citizens initiative on the November 2022 City of Los Angeles ballot that would increase the City’s title transfer tax on property transfers on high value transfers from 1% to 4% on transfers about $5 million, and 5% on transfers above $10 million.  Thresholds will be adjusted annually based on CPI.

• Estimated to raise between $800 million to $1 billion per year for the production and acquisition of affordable housing, homelessness prevention measures in the form of rent relief, income support for rent-burdened seniors, and legal counsel for tenants facing eviction.

• We need landlords with vacant units to partner with the City and utilize these critical Emergency Housing Vouchers (EHVs), over 3,300 that have now all been issued by our Housing Authority. They come with signing bonuses and guaranteed rent for several years. 

• Later this month (Sept 2022) we will be kicking off a landlord engagement campaign to get the word out. All property owners and managers with an available unit can get involved by going to LeaseUp.org

• Latino Homelessness has been understudied and under researched and we need to focus our attention on a significant rise in Latinos experiencing homelessness, a community that has not received the proper attention and support.

• We strongly urge LAHSA to explore the creation of an Ad-Hoc committee on Latinos Experiencing Homelessness so that we can begin to better understand the nuances and unique challenges that impact Latinos experiencing homelessness. And do the work needed to improve conditions.