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Methodology
The 2007 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count involves two research components:
- The Enumeration
- The Surveys
1. The Enumeration
LAHSA will coordinate the count of sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons across Los Angeles
County during the last week of January 2007. The Sheltered and Institution Count and the Unsheltered
Street Count will be coordinated simultaneously as a Point-In-Time Count to ensure validity and prevent
duplication of counting homeless persons. Glendale, Long Beach, and Pasadena conduct their own Homeless
Counts and are not included in the 2007 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count.
Sheltered and Institution Count
LAHSA will conduct a count of homeless individuals and families housed overnight in shelters and
institutions throughout Los Angeles County during the enumeration period (last week of January 2007).
The goal of the Sheltered and Institution Count is to gain an accurate count of the number of homeless
persons being temporarily housed in shelters and other institutions across the county.
Unsheltered Street Count
The Unsheltered Street Count will be conducted during the nighttime and early morning hours of
January 23-25, 2007. The goal of the Unsheltered Street Count is to enumerate unsheltered homeless
persons over a specific period of time. LAHSA will utilize a probability-based sample of census
tracts throughout Los Angeles County. Volunteers will meet at deployment centers to receive team
and location assignments. Volunteers will canvass their assigned areas on foot or by car, in teams
of at least two adults, and record their findings via tally sheets.
2. Homeless Surveys
To improve our understanding of the characteristics of homelessness, LAHSA will conduct surveys
of homeless persons and the general population.
Homeless Persons Survey
A representative sample of homeless persons from all areas of the County will be surveyed through
a short questionnaire. The goal of the questionnaire is to collect demographic (age, gender, etc.)
and descriptive (length of time being homeless, services used, etc.) data on the homeless population.
LAHSA-trained peer interviewers will conduct the survey to facilitate efficient and sensitive data.
Incentives will be provided to survey respondents in exchange for their participation.
General Population Telephone Survey
A random and representative sample of Los Angeles County households will be surveyed through a short
telephone questionnaire. The goal of the telephone survey is to locate the "hidden homeless" of Los
Angeles County. The hidden homeless are individuals who currently have a place where they can stay
temporarily and are not in easily accessed locations, such as shelters.
Information gathered from the Homeless Count and Surveys will be useful for:
- Planning how to best invest public resources to reduce homelessness
- Demonstrating a need for resources in the Continuum of Care application
- Raising public awareness about the issue of homelessness
- Accurately measuring and identifying the needs of populations that are hardest to serve (chronically homeless)
- Measuring performance in eliminating homelessness, particularly chronic homelessness.
Statistical Projection
The 2007 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count will enumerate homeless people in a sample of 510 of the
1,829 total valid tracts contained within the County's Continuum of Care. It is necessary, therefore,
to develop point-in-time and annual estimates for the whole of Los Angeles County. Undercounting
homeless people residing on the street and non-street is inherent in any enumeration, making any estimate
of the homeless population conservative. For more information on the statistical projection, please see
the 2005 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count Report. The 2005 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count Report
does not include the cities of Glendale, Long Beach, and Pasadena, all three cities who conduct their
own Homeless Counts.
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