LA County Residents Unaware Of Scale Of Homelessness In LA County

LOS ANGELES, Nov. 11, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- United Way of Greater Los Angeles released today findings from its 2014 Homelessness Perceptions Survey, which uncovered some key misconceptions that residents of Los Angeles County have about homelessness in their backyards. Developed to examine and understand the public's perception around homelessness, the survey provides a look at both the misconceptions and truths around homelessness in LA County. The survey found that residents vastly underestimate the County's number of homeless veterans, key causes of homelessness, and are unclear about where the regional breakdown of homeless in LA County.

"While we have seen a marked increase in awareness of the homeless issue in LA County over the past several years, we were surprised to see that many residents still underestimate the scope of the issue. Most surprising was the lack of awareness around Veteran homelessness, with LA being the Veteran homeless capital of the nation, as well as the assumption that the problem is somewhat localized to certain areas of LA," said Elise Buik, president and CEO of United Way of Greater Los Angeles.

"Our goal is to end veteran homelessness here in L.A. County by 2015. In order to reach that goal, we need to continue to educate local residents about the depth of the issue, as well as continue the permanent supportive housing programs put in place through our Home for Good work. We also hope that people will consider joining us for this week's United Way HomeWalk, which brings thousands of L.A. County residents together to raise awareness and funds to help end homelessness. The only way we can succeed is if the entire community – business leaders, non-profit partners and individuals – all work together," continued Buik.

The survey uncovered many misconceptions about homelessness in Los Angeles County, including:

Veteran Homelessness Vastly Underestimated

Home to the largest veteran population in the country, Los Angeles County is also the veteran homeless capital in the country with 4,618 homeless veterans.

• The study found that Angelenos are widely unaware of the veteran homeless problem in the County, as respondents selected Houston (877 homeless vets) and San Diego (1,486 homeless vets) as having more homeless veterans than Los Angeles.

Homelessness in L.A. is Widespread – Not Just Skid Row

Los Angeles' homeless problem is widespread throughout the County, but Angelenos still think it is centralized to a small widely publicized area in downtown Los Angeles.

• While Skid Row has been personified as ground zero for homelessness in Los Angeles, in actuality, less than 9 percent (8.5%) of homeless in Los Angeles live on Skid Row.  
• Nearly 44 percent (43.62%) of respondents believe over 25 percent of homeless people live on Skid Row, and nearly fifteen percent (14.16%) of those respondents believe that over 50 percent of the county's homeless population lives on Skid Row. 

Homelessness CAN Be Found in Affluent and Middle Class Areas

The San Fernando Valley, widely considered one of L.A. County's middle class suburbs, is home to a large percentage of the homeless population, with 5,115 homeless, and ranks as the third largest homeless population in the County.

• Only 2 percent of respondents chose the San Fernando Valley as one of the County's highest homeless populations.
• In actuality, the region has double the homeless population of East Los Angeles (2,340 homeless), which respondents ranked as the third highest homeless population, when, in reality, East Los Angeles has the second lowest homeless population after Antelope Valley (2,114 homeless).
• Nearly 22 percent (21.87%) of respondents chose West Los Angeles (3,667 homeless) as the region with the lowest homeless population but, in actuality, West Los Angeles is home to more homeless than the San Gabriel Valley (3,567 homeless), East Los Angeles and the Antelope Valley.
• Central and South Los Angeles were correctly identified as the two areas with the highest homeless populations, 10,470 and 7,044 homeless, respectively.

Mental Health and Addiction Not the Only Factors

• The high cost of housing and job loss are widely credited as leading causes of homelessnessⁱ. Respondents did correctly select job loss as a top factor, but only 30 percent of respondents selected housing costs as a top homelessness driver.
• The respondents chose mental health issues (82%), job loss (77%) and drug or alcohol addiction (70%) as the top three leading causes of homelessness. While the majority of respondents identified mental health and addiction as leading causes, in reality only 28% of the homeless population has a severe mental illness and about 30% have a chronic substance abuse issue. 

An in depth map illuminating the homeless population of various regions in LA County can be found here: http://www.unitedwayla.org/home-for-good/the-issue/

To make an impact on homelessness, residents can join Kobe Bryant and over 10,000 Los Angeles County residents in HomeWalk on Saturday, November 15. The event in its eighth year has raised over $4 million and helped to move over 14,500 homeless off the streets and into permanent housing.  More information can be found here: http://www.homewalkla.org.

The 2014 Homelessness Perceptions Survey was conducted online on October 29 and October 30, 2014, among 791 Los Angeles residents ages 18 and older.

About United Way of Greater Los Angeles

United Way of Greater Los Angeles is a nonprofit organization that creates pathways out of poverty by helping homeless people move into housing, providing students with the support they need to graduate high school prepared for college and the workforce, and helping hard-working families become financially stable. United Way identifies the root causes of poverty and works strategically to solve them by building alliances across all sectors, funding targeted programs and advocating for change. For more information, visit www.unitedwayla.org.

ⁱ National Alliance to End Homelessness and Homeless Research Institute. The State of Homelessness in America: 2014, see http://b.3cdn.net/naeh/d1b106237807ab260f_qam6ydz02.pdf

SOURCE United Way of Greater Los Angeles

Related Links

http://www.unitedwayla.org