Daily News on a Weekly Basis - Herald Publications - Inglewood, Hawthorne, Lawndale, El Segundo, Torrance & Manhattan Beach Community Newspapers Since 1911 - Circulation 30,000 - Readership 60,000 (310) 322-1830 - June 14, 2018
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Calendar of Events ............3
Certified & Licensed
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The Weekly Newspaper of Inglewood
Inglewood PD Carries the Torch
Last week, Inglewood Police officers had the privilege and honor of carrying the Special Olympic Torch through the community. Officers received the torch from LAPD Pacific Division and handed it off to
CHP West LA. Photo: Inglewood PD. •
Homeless Count Has Silver Lining
By Rob McCarthy
South Bay cities and unincorporated
areas didn’t fare as well as
the rest of the county in reducing
the number of homeless people,
though there are a few bright spots
in the just-released Greater Los
Angeles Homeless Count. Housing
assistance programs run by the
county and funded by taxpayers
through Measure H helped children,
families and chronically homeless
veterans most.
The census done each year creates
a snapshot of the number of
people, including children, who
live without permanent housing
in Los Angeles County. The head
count was taken over three nights
in January, and organizers report
a 3 percent drop in homelessness
throughout the county. The promising
numbers for 2018 are heralded
as a sign that taxpayer-funded
strategies are paying off.
The 2018 Homeless Count
showed 53,195 people in Los
Angeles County experiencing
homelessness. It marked the first
time in four years that homelessness
hasn’t risen across L.A.
County’s sprawling and diverse
communities, organizers with the
count said. The South Bay’s census
numbers weren’t as positive -- with
a 4 percent increase in homeless
residents.
Still, a silver lining showed in
the data collected by the volunteers
who fanned out after dark
on Jan. 24. They counted 4,246
people living out of cars and vans,
in shelters or motels, or outdoors
under bridges or in drainage canals.
They spotted fewer families, both
adults and children, and organizers
calculate their numbers dropped by
as much as 18 percent compared
to the previous winter.
Similar improvement was registered
among chronically homeless
veterans, whose resident population
was down 13 percent in the 2018
count. Overall though, more veterans
(18 percent) became homeless
in the South Bay, the tally showed.
Volunteers found 222 veterans staying
in shelters, while 151 people
with military service were living
on the streets or in vehicles.
Men continue to represent the
largest population of homeless
in the South Bay at 62 percent.
That represents a small drop in
the number of males who were
counted the previous year. The
number of homeless women in
South Bay jumped 20 percent in a
one-year period. The increase was
nearly as high (18 percent) among
people who identified themselves
as transgender individuals.
Re-housing programs targeting
African-Americans got a boost
from the census numbers. Black/
African-American men and women
now represent 32 percent of the
South Bay’s homeless population,
down 5 percent from a year ago.
There were 564 living in shelters,
while 815 lacked housing as of
January. Census organizers said
that African-Americans are more
affected by homelessness than any
other single ethnic group in Greater
Los Angeles.
“Fewer Black/African-American
people experienced homelessness
than last year, though they continue
to be overrepresented,” according to
the count’s organizers. “The population
of Black/African-Americans
decreased from 40 percent to 35
percent of the total population, but
they continue to be overrepresented
compared to 9 percent in general
County population figures.”
A recently created Ad Hoc
Committee on Black People Experiencing
Homelessness plans to
address the disparity in homelessness
for people of color, according
to organizers.
Homelessness also has increased
among Hispanics since 2017,
the new figures show. They selfreported
a 13 increase to the census
takers back in January. There were
1,351 Latinos without permanent
housing and all but 186 were sheltered,
the census numbers showed.
Caucasians in the South Bay
represent 32 percent of the area’s
homeless population, and their
numbers rose considerably over
a 12-month period. This ethnic
category saw a 57 percent jump
for the 1,375 people who were
counted on Jan. 25. All but 100
were sheltered on that night.
Particularly troubling is data
showing the county’s homeless
population is aging. The number
of displaced people aged 62 and
older is 22 percent higher this year.
Organizers reported a drop in all
other age groups. The South Bay
was the exception in this comparison,
with its homeless population
getting younger than the rest of
the county’s.
Among the South Bay’s displaced
residents, there are 453 who are 62
years and older, the census reports.
That figure is down slightly from
2017, while the 18 to 24-age group
is the fastest growing. There were
56 of these young adults in shelters
and 71 without a place to live in
January’s count of the South Bay.
Locally, the largest age group
of homeless individuals fall in the
25 to 54 age category. Volunteers
reported 312 people living in shelters
and 2,263 with no residences
during the winter census.
There were 690 people between
55 and 61 who were counted
as homeless this year, and just
a fraction (108) were staying in
a shelter or living in affordable
government-sponsored housing.
Organizers of the count said
that while they are encouraged
that a record number of people
are being sheltered throughout
Los Angeles County, more people
are entering homelessness for the
first time. This suggests that “root
causes of homelessness, such as
the affordable housing crisis, have
continued to worsen,” they said in
an announcement of the results
made on May 31.
The data, with its silver linings,
leads the region’s homeless coalition
leader to believe the tide is
beginning to turn.
“It’s encouraging, and indicates
new resources voters approved are
already having an impact,” said Peter
Lynn, the executive director
with the Los Angeles Homeless
Services Authority. “As the funds
and programs from Measures H
and Proposition HHH begin to
reach more people and create more
housing, we will continue building
on this momentum.”
To learn more about the homeless
count and view the results, go
to www.lahsa.org. The site also
lists shelters and homeless service
providers in the area.