For the first time in seven years, the city of Long Beach saw a year-over-year decrease in homelessness, but officials in neighboring Orange County were disappointed to learn that its homeless population had continued to grow.
The diverging trends were documented in spot counts conducted in January. Those surveys are intended to provide on-the-ground snapshots of homeless populations to help identify the needs of particular communities and shape local response efforts.
Long Beach officials said 3,376 homeless people were counted during the last count, down 2.1% from the 3,447 in 2023.
It was the first drop in homeless numbers seen since 2017, when the city's homeless population was 1,863, records show.
Mayor Rex Richardson said he was encouraged by the results of the annual count, which is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development for cities that have their own continuum of care, a governing body that coordinates funding for the housing and services for homeless people. Long Beach, Glendale and Los Angeles each have their own spectrum of care.
“It's clear that the work the city has done to address homelessness is beginning to turn the tide,” Richardson said during a news conference this week. “These figures let us know that we are on the right path and that we must continue working.”
The homeless count found that more than 70% of homeless people in Long Beach are unsheltered, meaning they live in a tent, makeshift shelters or a vehicle.
A little more than half of the people surveyed said they were on the streets for the first time. Most cited family issues, mental health and evictions as contributing factors.
The city saw about a 50% reduction in homelessness among those ages 18 to 24, a 37% decline for minors, and a 9.4% decline for those ages 54 to 64. . However, increases were seen in other age groups.
Declines were also seen among women and Black and Latino residents, among the groups most at risk of homelessness.
City officials said an emergency declaration on homelessness issued last year helped boost outreach services, shelter bed capacity and mental health counseling. It also helped streamline the approval process for affordable housing projects — from a year to 60 days, officials said.
Although that emergency proclamation expired in February, city officials said it provided a blueprint for how the city should address long-term homelessness.
As a result, Deputy City Manager Teresa Chandler announced the formation of a Homeless Strategy Office, which will serve as a “connection point” for various departments, outside agencies, service providers and community stakeholders focused on address the issue of homelessness.
Richardson said he hopes the city can maintain its momentum.
“We have to stay focused,” he said. “Now is not the time to change strategy, now is the time to double down on the results we have seen and continue to make a significant difference.”
Meanwhile, just east of the port city, Orange County officials recorded a 28% increase in homelessness in the region.
The point-in-time results, conducted every two years by the county, showed there were 7,322 homeless people in January, up from 5,718 in January 2022.
Increases were seen in both the number of unsheltered homeless people, up 37%, and the number of people in shelters, up 18%.
Doug Brecht, director of the county's Office of Care Coordination, attributed the increase in part to the end of COVID-era initiatives that provided financial support to families and housing-related protections such as eviction moratoriums.
County officials found some comfort in the fact that chronic homelessness declined in the region for the first time since 2019 and that the growth rate of its homeless population over the past five years has remained below that of the state and surrounding counties, a breakthrough Brecht said. was helped by increased investment in the county's homeless services system.
County officials said they plan to further increase bed capacity at shelters, expand outreach services and build more affordable housing.
In a statement, Donald Wagner, chairman of the Orange County Board of Supervisors, expressed mixed reactions to the results.
“While there has been an increase in the homeless population in Orange County, it is only a relatively minor increase of 7% over the last five years,” he said. “Still, we recognize that there is much work to be done.”
Supervisor Doug Chaffee expressed disappointment but said the homeless count also provides vital information about how the county can improve.
“The point in time is not just counting heads, it's an assessment of how well we're doing,” he said. “It's easy to say, 'We need more housing.' We do it, but there are other components.”
Chaffee said one area the county will need to examine further is how to prevent people from becoming homeless in the first place, while also trying to boost housing production in the region.
“It's a cork in the bottle,” he said. “This is how we will address the surge.”
