by Graham Galusha
A 46 percent increase in the number of homeless in the South Bay (Service Planning Area 8) over last year was reported by the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority (LAHSA) in June.
The statistic was based on a homeless count conducted by volunteers in late January.
The volunteers found 6,476 South Bay homeless, an increase of 2,000 over the 2022 count.
But citing the same homeless count, a decrease of one percent in the number of South Bay homeless was reported by the South Bay Cities Council of Governments (SBCCOG).
The discrepancy can be explained in part by the fact that SBCCOG’s count is based only on the 16 incorporated South Bay Cities. They do not include unincorporated areas such as Harbor City and Lennox; and parts of LA City, such as San Pedro and Avalon, said Ronson Chu, SBCCOG’s Senior Project Manager for Homeless Services
Chu said resolving the numbers’ discrepancy is further complicated by the fact that the county did not release homeless numbers by city, as they have in previous years.
LAHSA said it was not releasing homeless counts by city because of an “imprecise extrapolation process” resulting from a new digital collection system used this year.
Chu said volunteers who participated in the homeless count were directed not to look in homeless people’s tents or cars. The direction was a precautionary measure, but also resulted in a less precise count, he said. ER
