For the first time in Los Angeles County, fewer people have died while living on the streets, according to a report by the L.A. County Public Health Department.
“After a two-year plateau, the crude all-cause mortality rate among people experiencing homelessness decreased by 10% from 3,326 per 100,000 people to 2,994 per 100,000 people,” Dr. Will Nicholas, Director for the Center for Health Impact Evaluation, told KNX News’ Karen Adams. “This is the first reduction since we began tracking the data 10 years ago. The crude drug overdose mortality rate decreased by 21% in 2024 to 1,199 per 100,000. There were 256 fewer overdose deaths among people experiencing homelessness in 2024 compared to 2023.”
Dr. Gary Tsai, the Director of Substance Abuse Prevention and Control for Public Health, said while this is great news, the work is not done.
“I think that there are also a number of headwinds in terms of some of the Medicaid impacts that we'll be working with to try to sustain some of these improvements,” he said.
Officials say another obstacle includes a loss of $323 million in state and federal funding, which they say jeopardizes the gains made on reducing the homeless mortality rate.
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