The number of homeless people in Los Angeles County rose sharply by 23 percent in the last year despite increased efforts to tackle the crisis, according to a new count released on Wednesday.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) said 57,794 people are homeless on any given night in the county as opposed to 46,874 in 2016.
A significant spike of 20 percent in the number of homeless was also found in the city of Los Angeles where 34,189 have no permanent roof over their head, the report said.
“There’s no sugarcoating the bad news. It’s impossible to wrap your head around the numbers,” Los Angeles mayor Eric Garcetti told reporters, adding that a better counting methodology may explain some of the increase.
He said soaring rents and the cost of living were partly to blame for the chronic homelessness crisis that has plagued Los Angeles for years and earned it the unenviable title of “The Homeless Capital of America.”
“We can´t let rents double every year,” Garcetti said, adding that he was disappointed to see the number of homeless veterans go up.
According to the 2017 count, 4,828 veterans are homeless on any given night in Los Angeles County, a 57 percent increase from 2016.
The homeless count, which took place over three nights in January, is conducted annually by LAHSA. A count by the federal government is conducted every two years.
The latest tally comes as Los Angeles is planning to invest billions of dollars to combat homelessness thanks to two measures recently approved by voters.
Proposition HHH is expected to raise $1.2 billion in bonds for the construction of 10,000 units for the homeless, while Measure H will raise an estimated $3.5 billion over 10 years for various homeless programs.
“Today I am not discouraged at all by this data. We knew well intuitively that the uptick could be perceived,” said county supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.
“The good news is that we have the capacity for the first time to stand up to it.
“Imagine how we would feel if there had been no Measure HHH. Imagine how we would look today if there had been no Measure H. This would be a very different conversation.”
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