Los Angeles Homeless Count needs volunteers for this week's 2026 census

The three-day 2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count begins Tuesday night, and volunteers are still needed for the annual census.

The Department of Housing and Urban Development mandates that the Point-In-Time Homeless Count take place nationwide within the last ten days of January.

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority is recruiting a volunteer force to spot and count vehicles and tents where people experiencing homelessness may be sleeping, and to record any people they see living outdoors.

Counts occur at night, as daytime counts may result in the same individuals being counted more than once, as they are more mobile during daylight.  

"We're gonna get them all trained, we're going to hand each of them a census track, they will go to their assigned area and they will find everybody experiencing homelessness in that area," Darick Blackshere, LAHSA, said.

He explained the data will be tracked live as it comes in, with volunteers recording their observations through an app.

"The scale of unsheltered homelessness in LA is unlike anything anywhere," Paul Rubenstein, LAHSA, said, noting it is challenging to conduct accurate counts.

"New York can primarily look at their data database because most of their folks are in a shelter, but most of the people experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles are outside," he said.

Rubenstein said a specially trained team from USC will also participate over a longer period of months, knocking on the doors of RVs and talking with people inside tents.

"That's how we find out things like who is out there - demographics, characteristics. and its also how we find out how many people are inside because on the night of the count, we don't ask volunteers to look inside," Rubenstein said.

Earlier this year, LAHSA faced scrutiny from RAND researchers who believe last year's effort undercounted the homeless population. Both groups similarly find that homelessness has slightly declined.

Rubenstein said that the volunteer force is necessary and plays a crucial role in helping determine critical solutions to LA's ongoing crisis.