Survey shows an increase in Glendale’s homeless population, but a drop in unsheltered individuals

Glendale’s homeless population grew by 15% over the past year, but the figure was largely influenced by the opening of a winter shelter that attracted more transients to the community.

The city typically conducts homeless counts over a single night in January. This year, 240 people were reported as homeless compared to 208 in 2015, according to a presentation made to the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission on Monday.

However, there are some positives when this year’s statistics are broken down.

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Of the total count, 55 were unsheltered, meaning they had no place to stay for the night. That’s a drop from last year, when 86 unsheltered homeless individuals were counted.

The survey found 185 people to be sheltered, meaning they had somewhere to spend the night, a 52% increase from 122 in 2015, according to the staff report.

Arsine Isayan, a homeless programs coordinator with the city, said part of reason for the boost in sheltered people was that there was another option available for them.

Last November, an 80-bed winter shelter run by Ascencia, the largest homeless services provider in the city, opened and operated through this past spring.

And there was another piece of good news among those who were counted.

“All children were accompanied by adults,” Isayan told commissioners, and there were “no homeless youth under 18 that were unaccompanied.”

The homeless count also found that 176 people were individuals and 27% were in families.

Thirty-four were over the age of 62, and 23 were identified as having some sort of chronic mental illness, the findings showed.

Also, just over half of the individuals surveyed were ranked as “chronically homeless,” meaning they’ve been living on the streets for more than a year.

Ten veterans were also among the homeless counted.

“Veterans don’t tend to utilize the shelter system,” Isayan said. “If they come in, they’re unhappy and end up back on the streets.”

One of those homeless veterans was killed in a stabbing in Eagle Rock last week, said Natalie Komuro, executive director of Ascencia.

Ascencia owns a 40-bed shelter, a nine-unit apartment building and leases about 20 apartments for permanent housing from landlords throughout the community.

Finding permanent, stable housing for the homeless makes them less likely to use drugs if they have a substance problem, Komuro said.

About 91% of the people she finds housing for remain housed for six months or more because of good behavior, she said. The remaining 9% leave on their own or are evicted.

Despite that statistic, it’s still tough to get landlords to give up apartment units for affordable housing.

One of the next goals for Ascencia will be to secure county funding for a liaison to help convince landlords to create additional units.

While there was a drop in the number of unsheltered transients, Komuro said it doesn’t mean her work has slowed down.

“There’s definitely no let up in need,” she said.

A caseworker to help homeless people find jobs is also being considered, Komuro said.

The city receives about $2.3 million a year in federal funding to combat homelessness.

Those funds are used to operate 14 programs, including 40 emergency housing beds, 13 transitional housing units and 93 permanent housing units.

Trying to find housing first has been a paradigm shift at the federal level as a way to deal with homelessness, and taking that approach will continue at the local level as well, Isayan said.

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Arin Mikailian, arin.mikailian@latimes.com

Twitter: @ArinMikailian

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