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When Los Angeles County and city officials released the results of their latest count of unhoused people in July, they touted the results as a win: “ Over the last two years, our leaders came together to bring people inside, and their efforts have paid off,” said Va Lecia Adams Kellum, who until this past week ran the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.

Homelessness is down in the LA region — but not for children and families

Left out of that announcement, however, was any mention of families and children. But data reviewed by LAist show that the situation for families with children has not improved — especially for those living on the street.

  • The number of unsheltered children and teens under 18 went up nearly 22% this year compared to 2024 — from 1,558 to 1,897.
  • The number of unsheltered families with children in the county increased 18% from 903 to 1,067. 
  • The total number of families with children — both sheltered and unsheltered — went up 6% from 3,520 to 3,728.

LAHSA says the increases are not statistically significant, but it also means the agency can’t demonstrate progress in reducing child homelessness. And there’s another trend: among unsheltered families, the number of people in those families increased by 22% — suggesting that larger families are being displaced.

The trends run counter to what the region has seen overall with individuals experiencing homelessness. Unsheltered homelessness declined in the county by 9.5%, and 14% over the last two years.

How the homeless count works

    • Sheltered numbers are actual counts from shelters.
    • Unlike sheltered data in the homeless count, the unsheltered numbers are not an exact count; rather, an estimate. Volunteers go out to count people, tents and vehicles and other dwellings on the streets, and that’s used along with survey data to come up with an overall estimate.

Larger family sizes

Providers on the ground have also noticed a growing need among families.

Kelvin Driscoll, interim co-director at HOPICS, a homeless services provider in South L.A., said they’re seeing an increase in two-parent households. And he said it can be complex to find placement for larger families.

Rooms, for instance, have occupancy limits — often 3 to 4 in a room — meaning families have to split up.

“Do they want to stay together? Are the rooms close to each other? How close is the school? Let’s say it’s a single mother. What are the ages of the kids? … Can they be by themselves in a room?” Driscoll said. “Those challenges just don’t exist on the single adult side.”

Para Los Niños, which provides early educational services in L.A., said they’ve seen sharp increases in unhoused students at their schools in recent years.

“We’ve seen it just in general, families that are struggling,” said Jimmy Urizar, vice president of community and student services.

Housing in general is also scarce for families who have to find bigger units.

“ We’re seeing a lot of permanent supportive housing and a majority of those units are one bedroom units,” said Sasha Morozov, regional director for PATH, an L.A. service provider.

“Our homelessness response system was originally designed around single adults — not families. As a result, services for families are often too few and the first to run out,” said L.A. County Supervisor Holly Mitchell.

Advocates say resources are drying up

In recent years, city and county leaders have honed in on efforts to clear encampments and move people into shelters through programs like Inside Safe and Pathway Home. But families are often not in encampments, and are more likely to be closer to a school and living in their cars, providers said.

“Right now, the priority has been on reducing encampments, and that’s, I think, where families have been left behind,” said Katie Hill, CEO of Union Station Homeless Services. She said her organization has had to turn away over 700 families since December because they were at capacity.

“Motel vouchers are really drying up,” Hill said.

She added that there’s a pause on accepting new families for a subsidy program that helps people pay rent, called time-limited subsidies.

“The need is just astronomical,” she said.

Service providers are also worried about a 71% cut in state dollars to help families in this year’s LAHSA budget. As fewer families get into housing, more of them will end up unsheltered, said Morozov of PATH.

“It’s becoming a snowball effect,” she said. “Where else are families going to go?”

Families unable to afford housing

Providers told LAist they’ve seen families who are becoming homeless for the first time.

“ What we’ve been seeing is just a steady increase over time that the cost of housing is pushing more and more people onto the margins, and that includes families,” said Hill of Union Station Homeless Services.

A recent survey found that 70% of families with children under 6 struggled to meet a basic need like housing or food.

At two of Para Los Niños’ Head Start schools, they’ve seen at least a 50% increase of unhoused students last year, compared to the previous year.

“ I just think it shows the challenging path that families are on,” Urizar said.