The count will take place over three nights, beginning Tuesday, Feb. 22, in the San Gabriel and San Fernando valleys, and ending Thursday, Feb. 24, in the Antelope Valley.
The effort is essential to understanding how large the region’s homelessness crisis has become. It must be conducted by Continuum of Care providers to receive federal funding through the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. This year’s count will be the county’s first since 2020, as last year’s was canceled when LAHSA determined it was not safe to gather 8,000 volunteers amid stay-at-home orders and curfews due to COVID-19.
The county received an exemption from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and was not required to conduct a 2021 count. This year’s count was originally planned for Jan. 25-27, but the county’s surge in COVID cases, fueled by the Omicron variant, forced a change in plans.
“While we work to ensure an accurate homeless count, we cannot ignore the surging number of positive COVID-19 cases across our region,” LAHSA Executive Director Heidi Marston said on Jan. 14, when the postponement was announced. “This decision is our best path to ensure the accuracy of the homeless count without putting the health and safety of persons experiencing homelessness, volunteers and the community at risk.”
LAHSA had already made design changes to this year’s count due to COVID-19, even before the Omicron variant surge forced the postponement. The changes include moving deployment sites outdoors, moving volunteer training sessions online, encouraging volunteers to minimize cross-group interactions, requiring masks and encouraging volunteers to be vaccinated.
Results of the 2022 count are expected to be made public by LAHSA over the summer. For more information, visit https://www.lahsa.org/.
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Waste says
So thay will spend tax payers
Money to do a count..
But do nothing in the end
Bull shit
Tim Scott says
Just imagine how hard it was for the first taxpayers. Government hadn’t done ANYTHING, even issued currency, and was demanding payment.
“What are these dollars of which you speak?”
Oh.
Wait.
Yeah, the government actually ISSUES the money and spends it into existence before they collect some of it back in taxes.
What you want to be complaining about is what form that spending it into existence takes. In this case it is purchasing information and will mostly be going to people who are out of work and take on the counting process odd job as a way to get by for the month. They will spend that money in stores, probably mostly on food, and it will circulate through the economy. Perhaps you would prefer that it be spent into existence as…I dunno…farm subsidies handed to huge agricorps? A contract with a gigantic arms manufacturer for thousand dollar toilet seats to further enrich their CEO? What’s your preference?
Tim Knows Who says
I wrote an in-depth report on “that toilet seat” to Rep. Dingell, then Chair of House Armed Services Committee. Good times (not). You gave me a stomach ache.
Tim Scott says
R-O-L-A-I-D-S
Follow the Money says
There are many to count at Camp Parris off of the 14 near G and H. They could all be in the shelter off of I in the old County building, but Rex opted for a no bid contract to one of his pals to build location for about 150 people instead of using the existing County building with 700 beds. When it comes to Rex and Lancaster always FOLLOW THE MONEY.