By Jorge Casuso
July 15, 2025 -- The eagerly awaited results of the 2025 Homeless Count released Monday show a second straight drop in LA County's homeless population, a trend a recent study has called into question.
The results of the conducted over three successive nights in February by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) found the homeless population had dropped 4 percent to 72,308 in LA County and 3.4 percent to 43,699 in the City of LA.
"Unsheltered homelessness" decreased countywide by 9.5 percent and within the city by 7.9 percent, according to the annual count LAHSA took over from local jurisdictions in 2024.
LAHSA officials noted that over the past two years, unsheltered homelessness had dropped by 14 percent in the County and 17.5 percent in the city, indicating that "declining homelessness is now a trend in Los Angeles County."
“When I first came to LAHSA, I said we’d reduce unsheltered homelessness in three years," said LAHSA CEO Dr. Va Lecia Adams Kellum, whose agency and position were replaced by the County Board of Supervisors in April. "We did it in one and cemented it in two."
"By bringing innovative solutions, system change, and working arm in arm with our partners over the last two years, LAHSA has helped move people inside with the urgency this humanitarian crisis demands,” Kellum said.
This year's count also found that while unsheltered homelessness decreased, sheltered homelessness increased 8.5 percent in the County and 4.7 percent in the City.
“Homelessness has gone down two years in a row because we chose to act with urgency and reject the broken status quo of leaving people on the street until housing was built," said LA Mayor Karen Bass.
The count "makes one thing clear: change is possible when we refuse to accept encampments as normal and refuse to leave people behind," Bass said.
“Homelessness has gone down two years in a row because we chose to act with urgency and reject the broken status quo of leaving people on the street until housing was built."
But the two annual counts conducted by LAHSA could reflect a serious undercount, according to a report released on July 1 by the Santa Monica based RAND Corporation.
The report found that the annual Point-in-Time (PIT) counts RAND conducted last year in Venice, Hollywood and LA Skid Row differed widely from those taken by LAHSA after the agency took over the annual census from local jurisdictions.
The differences were "particularly striking" in Venice, where LAHSA found "just 173 persons and dwellings" that included tents and makeshift structures, compared to 554 identified by RAND.
According to the report, LAHSA's estimates are systematically 25 to 60 percent lower than those conducted by RAND, "potentially affecting the interpretation" of both the County's 2024 count and future results ("RAND Study Calls Into Question LA County's Homeless Counts," July 9, 2025).
This year's count marks the last conducted by LAHSA after the County Board of Supervisors voted to replace the agency with a newly created Department that centralizes the work of 14 County departments ("County Supervisors Overhaul Homeless Services," April 2, 2025).
The Board also regained oversight of the functions performed by LAHSA, which received $300 million per year in County funding but failed to properly account for billions of dollars in spending since it was established in 1993.
The consolidated department is focused on a "Housing for Health" model that replaces the "Housing First" model embraced by Santa Monica and other LA area cities two decades ago ("Part I: City Begins Major Shift in Homeless Policies," August 1, 2005).
County Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath, who helped spearhead the change,
said the drop in homelessness reflected by this year's count is not nearly enough.
"A four percent decrease is progress -- and a sign that our efforts are making a difference," Horvath said in a statement Monday. "But 72,308 people are still living without permanent shelter. We can, and must, do more.
"At this pace, it would take three centuries to end homelessness in Los Angeles County," said Horvath, whose district includes Santa Monica. "Every day, seven lives are being lost on our streets -- an unacceptable reality that demands bold, coordinated action."
The County's new dedicated department, she said, is one that is "coordinated, accountable, and designed to meet the urgency of this moment."
"These numbers are not a reason to lose hope," Horvath said. "They are a reason to stay focused. We have the tools. We know what works. And now, we are building the system to deliver at scale."
