By Jorge Casuso
January 18, 2022 -- Santa Monica's first homeless count in two years has been postponed one month due to the record surge in COVID cases fueled by the Omicron variant.
This year's count, originally scheduled for January 26 in Santa Monica, will take place across Los Angeles County from February 22 to 24.
In its announcement Friday, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) cited "protecting the health and safety of its volunteers, staff, and people experiencing homelessness as the reason for the delay."
“While we work to ensure an accurate Homeless Count, we cannot ignore the surging number of positive COVID-19 cases across our region,” said Heidi Marston, LAHSA's Executive Director .
“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,” Marston said.
The County agency already had taken steps to limit transmission of the virus, which has grown exponentially during the past month.
LAHSA moved its deployment sites outdoors, allowing volunteers -- who in Santa Monica usually number between 250 and 350 -- to stay in their cars when they pick up their packets.
The agency also moved its training sessions online and encouraged all volunteers to sign up as a “safety bubble” of two to three people that must arrive at the deployment sites together.
All volunteers are required to wear face masks and are encouraged to be vaccinated, County officials said.
“Even with safety precautions," Marston said, moving forward with a count in January places all those involved at risk of being contaminated.
Volunteers traditionally turn out in large numbers for Santa Monica's annual homeless counts, with an average of one volunteer deployed for every three homeless individuals located and tallied.
Last year's census was canceled due to a winter surge in COVID cases that was responsible for a record number of virus-related deaths.
During the last census in January 2020, some 350 volunteers counted 907 individuals, marking an 8 percent drop from the previous year.
As they have in the past, teams of volunteers this year will comb every street in Santa Monica -- a total of 226 linear miles -- to tally homeless individuals sleeping outdoors, as well as in cars, RVs and tents.
Homeless persons in shelters, jails and hospitals are also counted at each facility, according to City officials.
For this year's count, LAHSA has partnered with Akido Labs to develop a mobile app that "uploads data collected to a central server instead of returning paper sheets to local sites for manual tallying," officials said.
"Using the new app will improve data gathering and quality assurance processes while limiting the number of in-person contact volunteers have with Homeless Count staff."
The annual census provides crucial information that helps policymakers and service providers to better understand the extent of the homeless problem and implement solutions.
The Census -- which is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) -- also establishes a baseline number that is used by jurisdictions when applying for federal homeless grants and housing assistance.
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