January 26, 2022 Year count date
By Sam Catanzaro
The Santa Monica Homeless Count is back after being canceled due to the pandemic last year.
This year’s event is scheduled for January 26, 2022. According to the city, the count will be changed with the best COVID-19 security practices.
Members of the Santa Monica Ward interested in volunteering on January 26th can now register a santamonica.gov/santa-monica-homeless-count.
There will be some changes this year. The training will be carried out virtually via video before January 26th. In addition, the officers ask the volunteers to form their own 3-4 person teams from their pod. Volunteers who serve on an individual basis are paired with others and must travel to the counting locations separately from the deployment site. In addition, counting materials are provided in a drive-up format in one location to be shared shortly.
“The Homeless Graf has long been one of my favorite evenings of the year because we have so much support to tackle our great challenge as a city and society,” said Mayor Sue Himmelrich. “Thank you to the hundreds of people who will join the census, and to everyone in our community, I implore each of you to find ways to actively contribute to and learn more about our efforts to combat homelessness how our city is driving change to help people find the help they need. “
The Homeless Count is a count of the homeless population at a given point in time that is regionally monitored by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) as a requirement of the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
The 2020 homeless census has been canceled due to the pandemic. The 2019 Santa Monica Homeless Count showed that the number of homeless people across the city stagnated, with methamphetamine rising among the city’s homeless population. According to the results of the 2019 census, the total number of homeless increased by three percent from 957 to 987. According to the Santa Monica Police Department (SMPD), methamphetamine possession increased 152 percent in all populations between 2014 and 2018. In 2018, people affected by homelessness accounted for 69 percent of possession of methamphetamine dispositions. In addition, the 2019 census showed an increase in the number of homeless people on Santa Monica beaches.
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