National Annual Homeless Counts Santa Monica, Westside Population

In a way, it is a contest no one wants to win. Wednesday night, the Cat of Santa Monica conducted its annual homeless count.

The count is expected to show a growing population of homeless people are over 60 years in age, women. College graduates have also increased in size. And of course, a surprising number of homeless are native born residents.

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) tracks the results in each community to determine the amount of federal funds allocated to homeless programs.

The nation-wide Point-in-Time Homeless Count and Survey occurs annually, the last week of January.  The Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count is the largest in the United States.

The Count collects information on the number of individuals and families who are living in shelters or on the streets. 

The Westside, including Santa Monica, conducts the Homeless Count on the last Wednesday in the last full week in January every year. For the Santa Monica Count, teams are assigned an area of the City and will either walk or drive every street, alley and park in their assigned area.

Last year, the point-in-time homeless count found 921individuals, an increase from 728 (26%) in 2016. The street count is 581, an increase from 416 (39%) in 2016. Individuals sleeping in vehicles/encampments total 92, an increase from 73 (26%) in 2016. Shelter and institution population is 340, an increase from312(9%) in 2016.