The 2024 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count results were announced on Friday morning and while the West Side of Los Angeles County, which includes Santa Monica, saw a nearly 20% decrease in the total population of people experiencing homelessness, the count for Santa Monica showed a 6% decrease from the 826 reported in 2023 by the Los Angeles County Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) to 774 people.
The count found that the number of people experiencing homelessness in what’s classified as "Service Planning Area 5" — which includes Bel Air, Beverly Hills, Brentwood, Culver City, Ladera, Malibu, Mar Vista, Marina del Rey, Pacific Palisades, Palms, Playa del Rey, Santa Monica, Venice, West LA, Westchester and Westwood — was 5,383 in 2024, down from 6,669 in 2023.
The data provided at the city level reflects the actual number of people, along with what LAHSA calls "improvised dwellings" (cars, RVs, tents, etc) counted by volunteers on the night of the countin January. The number also includes data collected by special LAHSA outreach teams that canvass hard-to-reach or dangerous areas, such as Caltrans embankments in the city. The count allots one person in each improvised dwelling counted.
LAHSA breaks down Santa Monica’s count as follows:
• People physically counted outdoors (including at city beaches): 479
• People recorded in shelters (including at the city’s shelter, SAMOSHEL): 173
• Cars, vans and RVs counted: 61
• Tents counted in the city: 21
• Other makeshift shelters counted: 40
Los Angeles County Supervisor Lindsey Horvath was among the team presenting the report that was both in-person at the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority in Downtown Los Angeles and simultaneously broadcast over Zoom.
"Unfortunately, this morning, the Supreme CourtGrants Past ruling greenlights the criminalization of homelessness. This gut punch of a decision comes on the day we unveil our point-in-time count progress," Horvath said, adding, "This is unconscionable and it is not an effective solution. We know what works in Los Angeles County partnership, accountability, scrutinizing the status quo and aligning all resources. It is not arrest. It is not pushing people from community to community."
"Homelessness is a complex local, regional, state and national issue that affects our city on a daily basis," Santa Monica Housing and Human Services Director Heather Averick said in a statement. "The reduction in people recorded in the county’s 2024 point in time count is promising and reflects the impacts of our strategic efforts to address homelessness. At the same time, we know our work is not done and we acknowledge the real impacts of homelessness being felt across our community. We continue to work across all city departments and with our external partners to prioritize permanent solutions to this crisis."
This marks the first year that Santa Monica’s count has been managed by LAHSA. The city transitioned from a city-run count last year as part of a strategic push to leverage regional resources to assist the city in addressing homelessness.
In past years, the numbers recorded in Santa Monica’s local count have sometimes differed from the numbers released by LAHSA. Results from the2023 city-organized count showed 926 people experiencing homelessness in Santa Monica — 786 individuals and 140 improvised dwellings.
A little over a month ago, in May, Santa Monica councilmembers voted unanimously 7-0 to extend thelocal emergency status of the current homeless crisis for another 12 months.
