“Homeless” is defined by both the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority (LAHSA) as an “individual or family who lacks a fixed, regular, and adequate nighttime residence,” meaning that their primary nighttime place of residence is either a public or private place unfit for human habitation, or a publicly or privately operated shelter designed to provide temporary living arrangements (i.e. congregate shelters, transitional housing, hotels or motels provided by charitable organizations or government programs) (HUD, 2017; LAHSA, 2017). This also encompasses individuals or families who are in the process of exiting an institution they resided at for 90 days or less and those who resided in places unfit for human habitation just before entering that institution. This same definition categorizes ‘homeless’ into four categories: 1. Literally Homeless, 2. Imminent Risk of Homelessness, 3. Homeless Under Other Federal Statutes, and 4. Fleeing/Attempting to Flee Domestic Violence (LAHSA, 2017). 

 

To measure the population experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County, LAHSA conducts a Point-in-Time (PIT) Count on several nights in January each year. People staying in emergency shelters, transitional housing, or safe havens are considered “sheltered.” People who are observed sleeping outside or in a car, van, RV, tent or make-shift shelter are considered to be “unsheltered.” Despite how PIT counts are widely used, critics have claimed that they are unable to reliably and accurately capture numerical counts of the homeless population (Schneider et al., 2016). Opponents also argue that PIT counts focus too much on counting individuals who are visibly experiencing homelessness (defined by HUD and LAHSA as “literally homeless”) and fail to account for less visible individuals residing in their cars or temporarily staying with friends or extended family (Smith & Castañeda-Tinoco, 2018). Government resources and funds are funneled into conducting these annual PIT counts, yet many argue that they do not provide an accurate representation of the population experiencing homelessness and fail to address the root causes of homelessness on local, state, and national levels (Smith & Castañeda-Tinoco, 2018).