L.A. Officials Delay 2019 Homeless Numbers to Try to Spin Sharp Rise Despite $619M in Spending, Says HHF

The joint L.A. County/City of Los Angeles program known as the Los
Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) has delayed public release
of the official 2019 homeless count five days until June 4^th.

“Delay, inaction and spin: this is all Mayor Garcetti, City Hall and
L.A. County officials have to offer on the human catastrophe of
homelessness in Los Angeles as they try to spin the expected sharp jump
in our homeless count despite over $619 million in spending on the
problem in the region over the past year.”
Michael
Weinstein, president, AHF

LOS ANGELES–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Housing justice and homeless advocates with Housing
Is A Human Right, Healthy
Housing Foundation by AHF, Coalition
to Preserve L.A. and AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF)
are keeping up their pointed criticism of L.A. elected officials’
ineffectual response to the metastasizing and intertwined homelessness
and affordable housing crises in Los Angeles with a sharp rebuke of the
Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) unprecedented five-day
delay of the formal public release of the official 2019 homeless
count until Tuesday, June 4^th.

Historically, the count—which found 53,195 homeless in Los Angeles in
2018—is released publicly on May 31^st. However, this year, at
the last moment and with little explanation, officials announced that
release of the homeless count would be pushed back until this Tuesday.
Several housing and homeless advocates believe the delay was called to
allow public officials time to craft ‘spin’ on an expected steep
increase in L.A.’s homeless numbers.

“Delay, inaction and spin: this is all Mayor Garcetti, City Hall and
L.A. County officials have to offer on the human catastrophe of
homelessness in Los Angeles as they try to spin the expected sharp jump
in our homeless count despite over $619 million in spending on the
problem in the region over the past year,” said Michael Weinstein,
president of AHF. “Government policies and the official response to the
homeless crisis in L.A. are simply not working. With the price tag of
Measure HHH’s ‘affordable’ housing units—now, well over $500K per
unit—it is time to realize that we cannot build our way out of this
crisis. City and county officials are also not doing enough to stanch
the flow of new homeless with policies to prevent tenant evictions and
keep people in their homes. We need a total overhaul of our government
response to L.A.’s homeless crisis.”

Snapshot of The Homeless Crisis: Los Angeles
2017-2019

• The official 2018 homeless count in Los Angeles County was 53,195, a
  slight dip from 2017.
• The 2017 homeless count in Los Angeles County was nearly
  58,000 (57,794), a 23% INCREASE from 2016.
• That sharp rise, to nearly 58,000, suggested that the pathway into
  homelessness continues to outpace intensifying efforts that — through
  rent subsidies, new construction, outreach and support services — got
  more than 14,000 people permanently off the streets last year. (Los
  Angeles Times, 5/31/17)
• Homelessness also increased sharply in the City of Los Angeles in
  2017, where the count of just over 34,000 was UP 20% from 2016. (L.A.
  Times 5/31/17)

For more information on housing and homeless advocates’ concerns, please
visit: ‘LAScandal.org’.

Contacts

Ged Kenslea, Senior Director, Communications, AHF +1.323.791.5526
cell [email protected]
Marin
Austin, Communications Director, AHF +1323.333.7754 cell [email protected]