Homeless Resources

The homeless population is difficult to measure due to its transitory nature. However, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) conducts an annual Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count of the Los Angeles Continuum of Care (CoC) area: Los Angeles County minus the cities of Glendale, Pasadena, and Long Beach. The 2019 Point-In-Time (PIT) homeless count was conducted in January.  It fulfills the US. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) -mandated Point-in-Time (PIT) Count to count and estimate demographic characteristics of persons experiencing literal homelessness – unsheltered and sheltered –  during the last 10 days in January.

The count consisted of a visual enumeration of unsheltered homeless people, a census of sheltered homeless people, and a survey-based count designed to capture the homeless youth population.

To ensure local control and planning, LAHSA has divided the County into eight geographic areas designated as Service Planning Areas (SPA’s). Each SPA is expected to have a balance of homeless services. LAHSA helps coordinate efforts among agencies, businesses, community leaders, government agencies, and elected officials to determine priority needs and services from a local, regional and county-wide basis.

• Antelope Valley
• San Fernando Valley
• San Gabriel Valley
• Metro Los Angeles
• West Los Angeles
• South Los Angeles
• East Los Angeles County
• South Bay

LAHSA provides and supports a number of programs, shelters, beds, and other services for persons that are homeless in the Los Angeles CoC. These include the Family Solutions System program, Homeless Engagement Teams, Winter Shelter Program, Year-Round Shelter Program, and others.

Coordinated Entry System

The Coordinated Entry System for All Populations aligns the Single Adult, Family, and Youth Systems into a seamless, collaborative, county-wide platform for housing and service delivery to homeless households. The Coordinated Entry System (CES) provides for youth, individual adults, and families throughout LA County.

The main objectives of the system are to:

• Reduce the length of time a family is homeless and permanently house them as quickly as possible, using Rapid Re-housing and linkages to supportive services
• Build upon existing community-based infrastructures to serve homeless families, leverage resources, and provide more targeted and cost-effective interventions.

CES for Single Adults is utilized for anyone over the age of 18 experiencing homelessness in LA County, and aims to:

• Be low barrier and easy to access
• Identify and assess people’s needs
• Prioritize and match based on those needs

CES for families is targeted to a household that meets the definition of a family and is facing a housing crisis.

Eligibility for rapid re-housing or prevention assistance is based on the following:

• A family must meet the definition of Homeless or imminently at-risk of homelessness
• A family must have one or more minor children in your legal custody.
• Income must be at or below 30% Area Median Income.

The CES for Families system is supported by the Family Solution Centers (FSC). The FSCs is a collaborative, community-based response. Each regional FSC will build and maintain collaborative community partners that can provide interim and permanent housing, information, supportive services, and resources that homeless families need to become stably housed.

The Coordinated Entry System for Youth (Youth CES) is a regionally coordinated, client-centered system that streamlines access to developmentally appropriate housing and support services for youth and young adults, ages 16-24, experiencing homelessness and housing instability in Los Angeles County. Points of entry include outreach, drop-in centers, shelters, mental health, foster care/probation, schools, and community programs.