FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Christopher Yee, cyee@lahsa.org
LAHSA Working With HUD to Release 2022 Homeless Count Results This Summer
Today, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) announced the postponement of the release of the 2022 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count results to early September.
The University of Southern California and LAHSA work together to collect, develop and analyze the data for the annual Point-in-Time Count. Once completed, LAHSA submits its data to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for validation. After receiving approval from HUD, LAHSA releases the data to the public.
This year’s Homeless Count was significantly affected by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. To ensure the safety of its volunteers, LAHSA sought and received permission from HUD to move its unsheltered count from January to February and received a one-month extension to late May 2022 to submit its data.
Last week, HUD informed LAHSA that the validation of data would not begin until the week of July 18th, which will not provide LAHSA with the clearance to release the validated data on July 21st as was initially planned. After carefully considering its options, LAHSA has decided to postpone releasing the results of the Homeless Count until HUD has completed its review, since accuracy of the data is of paramount importance. Under the current timeframe, LAHSA is scheduled to received validated data in late August and will plan to release the data to the public in early September.
“This is the responsible thing to do; we have to give HUD the time they need to validate the data. Despite any frustration that may result from this delay, ensuring that the people of Los Angeles County and their elected representatives have accurate, validated data regarding the 2022 Point-In-Time Count is of the utmost importance to LAHSA,” said Kristina Dixon, LAHSA’s Acting Co-Executive Director. “We will continue to work with our partners at HUD and look forward to releasing the Homeless Count results as soon as possible.”