In California, more than 171,000 people experience homelessness daily. California is home to 12% of the nation’s population, 30% of the nation’s homeless population, and half the nation’s unsheltered population. 

The 2023 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count showed a 9% rise in homelessness on any given night in Los Angeles County to an estimated 75,518 people and a 10% rise in the City of Los Angeles to an estimated 46,260 people. While homelessness is a major issue in California, there are many conflicting ideas about what to do about it. To design effective programs and policies to address homelessness, we need to understand who is experiencing it, how they became homeless, what their experiences are, and what is preventing them from exiting homelessness.

To answer these questions, the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative conducted the California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH), the largest representative study of homelessness since the mid-1990s and the first large-scale representative study to use mixed methods (surveys and in-depth interviews). Guided by advisory boards composed of people with lived experience of homelessness and those who work on homelessness programs and policies, researchers selected eight counties that represent the state’s diversity and recruited a representative sample of adults 18 and older experiencing homelessness throughout California. The investigators conducted the research between October 2021 and November 2022. They administered questionnaires to nearly 3,200 participants, selected intentionally to provide a representative sample, and weighted data to provide statewide estimates.

To augment survey responses, they recruited 365 participants to participate in in-depth interviews. With this context, CASPEH provides evidence to shape programs and policy responses to the homelessness crisis. 

LACMA is working with the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health to seek ways to engage physicians more so they can positively impact the rise in homelessness; root causes, preventive measures and holistic approaches to reducing chronic homelessness. 

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