FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Christopher Yee, cyee@lahsa.org
LOS ANGELES – Today, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), and the Los Angeles County Department of Military and Veterans Affairs (MVA) released data that provides the most complete look into veteran homelessness in the LA Continuum of Care (LA CoC), which does not include Long Beach, Glendale, and Pasadena. The data released today comprises the results of the 2025 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count and totals from a By-Name List of veterans experiencing homelessness in the LA CoC overseen by the VA. The new joint release coincides with LAHSA’s commitment to pair Homeless Count data with administrative data to create a more comprehensive picture of homelessness in the LA region.
The 2025 Homeless Count estimates that 3,050 veterans experience homelessness on any given night in the LA CoC, a 2% increase over 2024’s estimate of 2,991 veterans. However, veteran homelessness remains 20% lower than the 2023 Homeless Count. In FY 2024, the VA permanently housed 1,854 veterans.
“We’re proud to see a decline in veteran homelessness across the LA area. This result speaks to the tireless efforts of the VA, MVA, veteran service providers, and LAHSA over the last year to bring our heroes home,” said Gita O'Neill, CEO of LAHSA. “However, while the Homeless Count is a foundational tool, we recognize its limitations in capturing the whole picture of veteran homelessness. We must continuously assess and refine our data collection efforts and processes to ensure we present the most reliable information possible to the public.”
A commitment to providing an accurate and transparent look into veteran homelessness led to a collaboration between LAHSA, the VA, and MVA to create a new By-Name List of veterans experiencing homelessness based on LAHSA’s HMIS. Over the past year, the three agencies collaborated through the groundbreaking “One Team” initiative to develop a robust and regularly updated list that leverages multiple data sources to provide a verified roster of veterans experiencing homelessness. As of September 10, there are 1,573 verified veterans who are experiencing homelessness on the By-Name List.
“Through the One Team partnership, we surpassed expectations, reaching our goal of placing veterans into permanent housing two months before the end of the federal fiscal year. Behind every number is a veteran whose life has been changed, and this achievement shows what is possible when the community, local government, and the VA unite with persistence and focus, putting the mission of housing veterans first,” said Jim Zenner, Director of LA County Department of Military and Veterans Affairs.
The discrepancy between the estimated number of homeless veterans and the number of verified veterans on the By-Name list exists for a combination of reasons. It could indicate a need for enhanced outreach efforts to engage homeless veterans who have not been reached, or it may reflect the statistical error in the homeless count estimates.
“The estimates of homeless Veterans are based on self-report from a sample of people experiencing homelessness in LA County,” said Benjamin Henwood, a professor at the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work whose team produces the homeless count estimates in partnership with LAHSA. “We know that some people report to be a Veteran when, in fact, they are not. While our methods attempt to account for this, there is still a margin of error associated with the Veteran estimates.”
This past year, the USC team and the VA partnered to try to understand this gap by offering those who self-identify as veterans access to VA outreach. The pilot program confirmed that there are individuals who identify as veterans but have no military history, and that there are some Veterans who have not yet been identified on the By-Name List. LAHSA supports continuing the collaboration between USC and the VA during the 2026 Homeless Count.
“Now decision-makers will have more information about veteran homelessness across the LA region and be able to make better-informed decisions and craft more effective interventions that will reduce veteran homelessness,” O’Neill noted. “The release of this data aligns with Measure A reporting, which emphasizes the use of both local administrative data and the Homeless Count data.”