I am glad that the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) finally released it's final report on the 2009 Homeless Count, but I am also among the many who have questions regarding it's overall validity.
From what I gather, many other agencies rely on these same numbers to help them make determinations that will directly affect the lives of homeless people across Los Angeles County. That in itself proves the importance of said report. While observing the training for and conduct of the Homeless Count, I noticed several flaws that likely altered the numbers. That, in turn, is likely to mean less funding than needed, because many of the homeless have gone uncounted.
One flaw I noticed was the commonly used technique of counting homeless tents as one person without truly knowing how many people are actually inside each tent, or whether or not any "extra" individuals are also homeless. I understand that this is a most difficult challenge, especially when taking the position of not wanting the temporary volunteers to engage the homeless during the count, but an improved and more accurate counting technique is needed to better ensure that homeless individuals, and perhaps families, will not be overlooked.
Another flaw was an apparent failure to account for homeless individuals who were in jail during the three-day count. Other programs, such as the Los Angeles Police Department's Safer Cities Initiative, greatly affect the number of homeless people on the streets during any given three-day period. There are large numbers of homeless individuals who serve time in jail for misdemeanors and are subsequently released. They are still homeless, but any who were incarcerated during the count will remain statistically invisible.
Such lapses in accuracy will affect funding of various programs for the homeless. An undercount could mean insufficient funds to ensure that homeless services are provided evenly. Ultimately, this could mean that necessary services will be denied to some homeless individuals.
The thought of homeless individuals being denied much-needed services due to inaccurate counting hits home for me personally, being a community activist in Skid Row. Just a few days ago, a homeless woman I knew named Leslie had a seizure and died. Her death prompted an outpouring of love from the community, which marked the loss with posters full of well-wishes and candles that burned through the night.
I can't help but wonder what services could have better helped Leslie — and whether she was even included in the count that is used to determine funding for such services.
Less than a month ago, I lost another friend in Skid Row, a man known affectionately as "Big Shaq" because of his size. I was told that he had a heart attack and died. Again, I can't help but wonder if there were services available that could have saved him.
My point is this: I can put names to these homeless individuals that are nothing more than numbers and statistics to your organization. While some progress is being made, there is still a lot of room for improvement. Nothing in your report implies that a "cushion" has been added to the count, which leads me to believe that there are homeless people that will not benefit from the funding and services supposedly made available to them.
I only hope that while many of you are patting yourselves on the back for completing a task, the realization of the need for more accuracy does not go overlooked. I ask that you collectively strive for increased accuracy, because if even one homeless person is overlooked, our society condones overlooking the lives of our fellow human beings.
General Jeff
Issues and Solutions
Board Member
Downtown Los Angeles
Photo of Skid Row by Matthew Logelin; photo of General Jeff from L.A. Garment & Citizen.
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