The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), on Thursday, September 8, 2022, released the results of the 2022 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count. LAHSA’s official point-in-time count for the City of West Hollywood is 40 persons, a significant decrease from the 2020 count (112 persons) and the City’s lowest number since the City began participating in the count in 2009.

The City looks to a range of data to understand trends in the number of community members experiencing homelessness in West Hollywood relative to the number of people getting housed. For example, in January 2020, the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count tallied 66,436 people experiencing homelessness across the region and 112 people in City of West Hollywood. The 2022 LAHSA count for West Hollywood aligns with the monthly numbers reported by Ascencia, a nonprofit organization with which the City of West Hollywood contracts for homeless outreach, shelter, and housing support services. Through the City’s contract with Ascencia, the outreach team provides the City with monthly data on the number of unsheltered community members in city public spaces and reports from the last year show a monthly average count of 40 people experiencing homelessness. Ascencia completes this ongoing count the last Friday of each month from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m.

The official 2022 LA County Homeless Count is 69,144 people. This is a 4.1% increase from the 2020 Count. The Service Planning Area (SPA) 4 Count (which includes the areas of Skid Row and Hollywood in the City of Los Angeles, as well as the City of West Hollywood) also saw a 4% increase from 17,121 in 2020 to 17,820 in 2022. However, LAHSA believes those numbers are indicating a potential flattening of the curve. Regional increases are significantly down from the double-digit increases in the years preceding the COVID-19 pandemic.

At the regional level, the slowing in the growth of the region’s homeless population is encouraging. That said, the City is aware that it continues to be frustrating that the regional social safety net is not yet making significant and sustained reductions in the number of people experiencing homelessness.

Even with the 2022 count data showing a marked decrease in the number of people experiencing homelessness here, the day-to-day impacts of homelessness in West Hollywood are felt acutely by all community members and businesses and the City will continue to prioritize engaging with the community and fostering ongoing communication and outreach to support requests for help and get resources to people in need.

The City’s sustained investments in homeless outreach, behavioral health services, case management, and housing retention is increasing the annual tally of community members who move off the streets and into their own homes. Additionally, two years of the City’s emergency tenant protection policies, rental assistance, and other supportive programs have helped people remain in their housing during the economic instability stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic.

As part of its regular meeting agenda on Monday, July 18, 2022, the City Council of the City of West Hollywood received an update regarding the City’s Homeless Initiative. The update provided the City Council and the community with details about the Homeless Initiative’s progress towards the goals of the Five-Year Plan to Address Homelessness in Our Community, as well as notable activities in the regional homeless service system, the delivery of local homeless services, and program outcomes from City-funded non-profit agencies.

The City’s Human Services and Rent Stabilization Department’s Strategic Initiatives Division oversees the West Hollywood Homeless Initiative in coordination with the City’s Social Services Division. The Homeless Initiative is a multi-disciplinary, multi-agency collaborative response, which includes multiple City Departments, City-funded social service agencies, the West Hollywood Chamber of Commerce, and Los Angeles County agencies.

Since October 2016, through West Hollywood’s focused efforts, the City of West Hollywood and its partners have successfully supported more than 224 youth and adults in establishing permanent housing and ending their experience of homelessness; notably, 141 of these housing placements have occurred since October 2019, which marked the beginning of the City of West Hollywood’s FY19-22 Social Service Grants contract cycle.

Through the West Hollywood Homeless Initiative, in partnership with the community, and with funding support from LA County Measure H, in 2018 the City established the “Five Year Plan to Address Homelessness in Our Community.” The plan identifies seven goals — and key actions to reach these goals — based on feedback from the West Hollywood community and stakeholders:

• Goal #1: Provide support and resources to City staff and contractors in responding appropriately, safely, and effectively to persons who are experiencing homelessness in West Hollywood.      

• Goal #2: Support businesses and residents in responding appropriately, safely, and effectively to persons who are experiencing homelessness in West Hollywood.    

• Goal #3: Establish bridge housing and day center facilities in West Hollywood to serve people who are homeless in the City.   

• Goal #4: Continue the City’s support for the Rapid Re-Housing program to prevent homelessness among West Hollywood residents.  

• Goal #5: Increase the number of supportive housing, special needs housing, and other permanent housing options in West Hollywood for people who have experienced or are at risk of homelessness.          

• Goal #6: Strengthen partnerships with other cities and with nonprofit organizations to support regional and individualized solutions to homelessness.

• Goal #7: Prevent homelessness among West Hollywood residents, especially seniors, individuals living with disabilities, and vulnerable families.

Making progress toward the goals of West Hollywood’s Five-Year Plan remains critically important in directing the local response to homelessness. The 2022 West Hollywood Homeless Initiative progress report is available at www.weho.org/homeless.

The West Hollywood Homeless Initiative seeks to effectively address homelessness. If you are concerned about a community member who is homeless, call the West Hollywood Homeless Initiative Concern Line at (323) 848-6590. If your concern requires time-sensitive assistance during nights or weekends, please call the West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station at (310) 855-8850.

For additional information about the West Hollywood Homeless Initiative, please visit www.weho.org/homeless. To learn more, watch a brief video overview about the West Hollywood Homeless Initiative on the City’s WeHoTV YouTube channel at https://youtu.be/aAvwRExSeYY.

For more information, please contact Elizabeth Anderson, City of West Hollywood Strategic Initiatives Program Administrator, at (323) 848-6839 or eanderson@weho.org. For people who are Deaf or hard of hearing, please call TTY (323) 848-6496.

For up-to-date information about City of West Hollywood news and events, follow @wehocity on social media, sign-up for news updates at www.weho.org/email, and visit the City’s calendar of meetings and events at www.weho.org/calendar. The City of West Hollywood remains in a declared local emergency in response to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. West Hollywood City Hall is open for walk-in services at public counters or by appointment by visiting www.weho.org/appointments. City Hall services are accessible by phone at (323) 848-6400 and via website at www.weho.org. The City’s coronavirus updates are available at www.weho.org/coronavirus.

For reporters and members of the media seeking additional information about the City of West Hollywood, please contact the City of West Hollywood’s Public Information Officer, Sheri A. Lunn, at (323) 848-6391 or slunn@weho.org.