The annual point-in-time homeless count across Los Angeles County officially started Tuesday night.
Thousands of volunteers go out at night over the course of three days to conduct the count. KNX News’ Nataly Tavidian reported the count is always done at night. They look for people who are unsheltered, staying in tents or cars.
They started in the San Fernando Valley and Metro L.A. The count will continue Tuesday night in the San Gabriel Valley and East L.A. It’ll wrap up Thursday night in other parts of L.A. County like the Antelope Valley, West L.A., South L.A., and the South Bay.
The only areas that do not participate are Pasadena, Glendale, and Long Beach. They conduct their own independent homeless counts.
This comes after local leaders are pulling money from the L.A. Homeless Services Authority because audits raised concerns about transparency.
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“We are doing more,” Nithya Raman, chair of the Housing and Homelessness Committee and L.A. councilmember, said. “We're here to hold the system accountable, but we can't do it if you pull your dollars away.”
LAHSA said cutting their funding is risky and could make homelessness worse. But local leaders said they want more accountability before restoring funds.
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