Homeless Count Numbers and Permanent Supportive Housing

1. Homeless Count Numbers and Permanent Supportive Housing Erica Quintana Midterm 2012

2. Housing Supply and Counts do not match • Homelessness in Los Angeles: LA has the highest numbers of homelessness in the country an estimated 53,000. • About 12,000 of these individuals are chronically homeless or veterans for whom permanent supportive housing is the reported to be the best answer. • The hypothesis of this project, which was supported, was that permanent supportive housing is concentrated in the City of Los Angeles. • Many cities have homeless numbers that are not negligible but no permanent supportive housing to address the needs of the homeless in these areas (e.g. Pomona and El Monte).

3. LAHSA homeless Count Numbers • These are actual count numbers from LAHSA’s count in 2011. The next count is January 2013. The previous count included 34 cities or communities that opted in to count. In this next count there will be 67 communities that count their homeless. This will provide richer data and allow for better analysis of the PSH geographic distribution.

5. Census Estimated Numbers • These numbers are estimated via the census. These are just estimates. It is important to get these numbers from actual enumerations like through the LAHSA bi-annual homeless count. However, some cities decline to participate.

7. The County

9. There are places with a huge mismatch: Pomona

10. Places with a mismatch continued: El Monte

11. There is clear mismatch of resources across LA County • Most of the PSH are densely located in the City of Los Angeles. • The high homeless population and proliferation of service providers largely explain this phenomenon • Even with an explanation for the “why” of the situation there is still a need in many parts of the county for permanent supportive housing to address the needs of the homeless. • Oftentimes homeless individuals do not have means of transportation to get to cities that could provide more support for their situation

12. Next Steps • Draw buffers and analyze the gaps between homeless numbers and numbers of PSH units • Try to get data into census tract format to add it additional data about poverty levels, community engagement etc. • Create an index or attribute that will help identify what cities to target in improving PSH stock including things like whether or not the city has its own Public Housing Authority.

13. Sources • United Way of Greater Los Angeles: Permanent Supportive Housing data. • Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority: City/Community Counts and City shapefiles. • 2010 Census: Unsheltered homeless count estimates for cities that weren’t counted in LAHSA’s homeless count. • ESRI: Shapefiles

14. Skills Used • Geocoding- address locator for PSH locations. • Select by attributes- City of Pomona, City of El Monte. • Graduated symbol: Total Units in PSH. • Geoprocessing- Projecting shapefiles into compatible projection for analysis, clip LA County background. • Inset Map: Pomona selected in LA County, Pomona in a larger view. El Monte selected in LA County, El Monte in a larger view. • Aggregating attribute fields: Aggregated in excel numbers from LAHSA data to reflect Total Unsheltered Homeless= Youth+ Street+ Hidden.