LAHSA Homeless Count Presentation

Chrysalis was deeply troubled but not surprised at the results of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), released on Friday, June 12, 2020. The point-in-time count that had been conducted in January 2020 confirmed that 66,433 people in Los Angeles County were experiencing homelessness – a 12.7% rise from last year’s count of 58,936.

The report acknowledges a steeply rising rate of people falling into homelessness and that 59% of the unsheltered adults experiencing homelessness for the first time cited economic hardship as the cause. An estimated 82,955 people became homeless during 2019, an estimated 52,689 “self-resolved” out of homelessness, and 22,769 people were placed into housing through the homeless services system. LAHSA summed this up with the stark reflection that, “an average of 207 people exit homelessness every day – while 227 people become homeless.”

These pre-pandemic numbers should be ringing in all our ears, and at Chrysalis it is another sharp confirmation of why we believe our employment-focused services are vital. We are a resource and a haven for people experiencing homelessness to create and navigate any barriers to the workforce, but we have long realized that we are also a vital service for anyone who may be at risk of losing their housing due to economic hardship. Preventing people from losing their home or living with housing instability, especially if it is due to job loss, is constantly front of mind for us.

To understand why this is happening, LAHSA’s report outlines factors that contribute to the cycles and funnels of homelessness that our community is in. In the press release distributed by LAHSA, Executive Director Heidi Marston is quoted as stating, “We can settle for nothing less than ending homelessness for those who experience it and stopping it before it begins for anyone else. That requires us to increase our housing supply. It requires us to transform our foster care, health care, criminal justice, and other systems to stop them from pushing people into homelessness. And it required us to dismantle the legacy of racism that still shapes our region’s vast inequalities of income, wealth, and opportunity.”

Putting aside the understanding that we are and are going to be faced by the impact that COVID-19 will have on our community, here three things that we should pay attention to from the LAHSA Homeless Count right now:

1.      Two-thirds of adults stated that “economic hardship” has caused them to experience homelessness.

The April 2020 California EDD jobs numbers for Los Angeles County stated an unadjusted unemployment rate of 20.2%. Every major industry saw a reduction, and the total nonfarm employment rate decreased by 15%, or 685,000 jobs, in April. It is the largest month-over employment downturn in contemporary record-keeping and now leads over the decline recorded in January 2009 when we lost 127,900 jobs.

The impact of sweeping unemployment is falling on the shoulders of rent-burdened, low-income individuals and families. The cost of housing has been explicitly drawn out and put at the forefront of LAHSA’s last few years of reporting. The 2020 count and response specifically cites that homelessness starts rising when median rents in a region exceed 22% of median income. The median rent in Los Angeles is nearly 50% of the median income. LAHSA notes that the 39% increase in the number of sheltered family members may be attributed to better methods of counting and reporting but the rise is also absolutely correlated to the financial pressures on low-income families.

Inequity of intergenerational wealth and overall wealth is linked to various hardships experienced by low-income individuals and families in America. Wealth or savings make it possible for people to transition between jobs, move into homes, and respond to emergencies. Children of families with the ability to support them during their education will be better positioned to build their own financial security. One example to pay attention to are the hardships experienced by people with involvement in the criminal justice system. Criminal backgrounds have made it historically difficult to regain or gain stability. The State of California has more than 4,800 legal restrictions on people with criminal records – that remain even after serving sentences. 

There are approximately 300 occupations in California that require licensing and the average worker who applied to the Department of Consumer Affairs for a license paid $300 in fees and spent 549 days in training before passing an exam. It takes support and money to do all of these things. The ability to successfully advance to a place of generational wealth or long-term financial security is not equally stacked in Los Angeles where economic opportunities for high-paying jobs depend on educational backgrounds and the housing market is at a premium. Furthermore, wages have not kept pace with the cost of rents, and renters in Los Angeles need to earn $41.96 per hour to be able to afford the average monthly asking rent of $2,182. That hourly wage is 2.8 times the City of Los Angeles’ minimum wage. People faced with something like this are vulnerable to housing instability and less likely to create a savings and safety net of wealth for themselves and their families. It is imperative to advocate for fair chance hiring. It is important for people to have equitable access to training and educational opportunities. It is vital that housing becomes more affordable and that wages keep pace with the cost of living.  

2.      34% of people experiencing homelessness are Black.

While Black people represent 8% of the Los Angeles County population, they are 34% of the people experiencing homelessness. Just over a year ago, LAHSA released a report and recommendations from the Ad Hoc Committee on Black People Experiencing Homelessness. The first of nine key insights states that, “For lasting change to occur, institutional barriers across agencies and mainstream systems must be dismantled to eliminate the racial disparities and systemic racism…” The housing crisis, low wages, and interconnectedness of housing instability with  incarceration as well as the child welfare system are also key factors that contribute to the disproportionately high rate of members of the Black community experiencing homelessness.

Cited in the Ad Hoc report was a study by the University of California, Los Angeles Labor Center, the Los Angeles Black Worker Center, and the UCLA Institute for Research on Labor and Employment. At the time of that report, 17% of Black workers in Los Angeles County were unemployed, compared to 9% of White workers. And findings also revealed that while education helped bridge the gap, it did not completely erase it, because 9% of Black workers with at least a bachelor’s degree were unemployed, compared to 7% of White workers.

Inequities among the employed further magnify the depth of racial bias in the economy as shown in the study’s findings. Whether working full- or part-time, Black workers earned less than three-quarters of what White workers earned. Among Black full-time workers in Los Angeles County, 30% were low-wage workers (people who earned $13.49 per hour), and Black households had the lowest median income and were more likely to be below the poverty line compared to any other racial group.

There is a 50% gap in resume callback rates between Black-associated names and White-associated names, according to a study by the National Bureau of Economic Research. Employer discrimination and hurdles to finding employment were echoed in LAHSA’s Ad Hoc Committee listening sessions. Another topic during listening sessions with the Ad Hoc Committee was access and availability of training programs. The availability of training needed to advance and increase employment opportunities are reported as lacking, but there are also barriers to being able to advance skills through further education that may include transportation, childcare, cost of programs, and cost of living expenses. A report by PolicyLink and PERE stated that the Los Angeles region would experience a skills gap and by 2020, 44% of the state’s jobs would require an associate’s degree or higher – yet only 34% of Black Angelenos held a degree at that level. 

Racial bias in the workplace and opportunities in education or training have led to limited representation of Black people in the economy. As a result, more Black people are working lower-paying jobs and jobs where there are fewer opportunities for advancement. Hiring and application processes veiled with discrimination and implicit bias must be addressed. Chrysalis emphasizes the need for participation and action from employers to ensure that there is fair chance hiring for the reentry population – especially as the criminal justice system is another space where Black people have disproportionately been represented.

3.      227 fall into and 207 people exit out of homelessness daily.

An estimated 82,955 people became homeless during 2019, an estimated 52,689 “self-resolved” out of homelessness, and 22,769 people were placed into housing through the homeless services system. In the report, LAHSA cites that 555,105 Los Angeles households are severely rent-burdened according to US Census ACS data and that a California Housing Partnership report finds that 509,000 new affordable housing units are needed.  

The LAHSA report notes what is working in the right direction to address how the system has been able to improve its response for people experiencing homelessness and housing instability. It notes that the Housing Central Command has been able to increase the speed of placements and that three years into the 10-year investment from Measure H, the county’s homeless services system has doubled the number of annual housing placements. This effort came into play at great speed as the community responded to protect the most vulnerable people from COVID-19 and provided safe spaces for 6,010 people since the March safer at home order – 4,056 through Project Roomkey, 1,708 in Rec and Parks shelters, and 246 in trailers. 

The goal has been set to move 15,000 people into housing and prevent those currently sheltered from returning to homelessness. This number is at the center of the agency’s COVID-19 Recovery Plan. The areas of the plan cover prevention with an aim at preserving affordable housing, addressing income insecurity, and housing stability. The rehousing services, housing creation, and outreach efforts are the four additional components. 

Chrysalis is committed to working with our community through this crisis. Every day, staff meet people where they are at and address basic needs and employment goals. The people we serve have been made more vulnerable due to the COVID-19 pandemic, resources and economic opportunities are at the ground level of what needs to be stabilized and, to do so, inequities in the system must be addressed. We recognize the significant steps forward that LAHSA and our shared partners have been able to accomplish, especially since the adoption of Measure H. With more affordable housing and more fair chance hiring, Chrysalis clients will not just navigate barriers, but hopefully remove barriers.

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