Census Count of Homeless

* Your June 10 article on government and social services agencies’ joint project to find a better way to count the homeless [in next year’s census] left out an important reason why this must be done. Yes, there was a huge gap 10 years ago between the number counted (about 8,000) and the real number of homeless in our area (closer to 60,000). And, yes, that meant fewer federal dollars came into our community than would have otherwise. However, the real issue is about who was counted and who wasn’t. Those visible 8,000 were mostly what we call the “shopping-cart” population. Many have mental disabilities or are substance abusers. They are almost impossible to re-integrate back into society.

The other 50,000 or so are families with children. There are about 10,000 homeless children in Los Angeles. At night you might find them sleeping with their parents in abandoned cars, in garden sheds or drainage ditches.

The tragedy is that unlike the shopping cart population, these families can be helped--and it doesn’t take much. Those we serve at L.A. Family Housing shelters and transitional living programs receive job training, counseling, education and support services like day care and bus tokens. It takes, at most, two years and they are on their own--for good. More than 95% of the families who go through our programs never become homeless again.

NAT HUTTON, Exec. Director

L.A. Family Housing Corp.