Los Angeles homeless count: Numbers questioned due to app problems
There are new questions about the accuracy of this year's Los Angeles homeless count. It was just completed last month, but some volunteers are telling KCAL News about problems trying to report the numbers. It's the second year in a row we've documented a lot of problems with the accuracy of this homeless count.
The federal government mandates that cities count the homeless every year because federal funds, in part, are based on those numbers. So getting it as accurate as possible is the key. But now, for a second year in a row, some who were involved in the count have questions.
"I'm completely convinced that the count is flawed, completely flawed," said Jay Handal, who led 75 volunteers last month during the homeless count in West Los Angeles.
He says the new app, where volunteers were supposed to input the numbers, just didn't work.
"It was a nightmare," said Handal. "They're sitting there looking at their phones going 'I can't get this to do it.'"
That wasn't the only problem. Handal shared video from his laptop showing the warning "failed to submit" when he also tried logging volunteers in. It made for a frustrating night.
"It was just horrible," said Handal. "It's a horrible experience and honestly I've done this for probably eight years chairing this area."
The count was supposed to be better this year.
The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the public agency that oversees the homeless crisis, unveiled a new app called the ArcGIS QuickCapture to try to ensure the most accurate count. It came after KCAL News exposed problems with the numbers from last year's count.
A volunteer from our investigation last year complained about the old app, which somehow showed no homeless in one area of Venice, much to the surprise of several unhoused individuals who live on the streets there.
LAHSA is the same agency where we caught employees last year throwing cases of food in the dumpster that were supposed to go to the homeless.
The agency has an $800 million budget. We found they spent more than a quarter of a million dollars on this new app for the homeless count, that for many volunteers just didn't work.
"We know that there were problems," said L.A. County Supervisor Kathryn Barger. Barger heard about it firsthand.
"One of my staff couldn't download it on two phones, and out of the four that were walking, only one could, and even had problems," said Barger. "It shouldn't happen. And LAHSA is going to explain -- I'm hoping -- how they're going to correct this."
The agency wouldn't make anyone available to us to answer questions. But in a written statement, said in part:
"LAHSA took lessons learned from last year and the best practices from previous years to develop a new quality assurance process, including a new app and distributing backup paper maps and tally sheets if volunteers had connectivity issues."
And they provided a map showing if the app didn't work, volunteers could write down the number of homeless, which they claim would be entered later.
Handal, who has been doing the homeless count for eight years, says this year it was the most frustrating.
"I got home probably around 12:45 saying to myself 'I'll never do this again.' They're just incompetent," said Handal.
The manufacturer of the app says they were not told of any systemwide log-in issues. LAHSA says they're still looking into those log-in issues, but they say the paper trail will provide a backup where the app failed. The numbers are expected to be released sometime later this year.
LAHSA's statement:
"For the 2023 Homeless Count, LAHSA took lessons learned from last year and the best practices from previous years to develop a new quality assurance process, including a new app and distributing backup paper maps and tally sheets if volunteers had connectivity issues with the app. If the backup paper maps and tally sheets were needed, they would be returned to the deployment site, where a LAHSA staffer or the deployment site coordinator would enter the data from the map and tally sheet into LAHSA's digital dashboard to capture the data. They would also take a picture of the map and tally sheet and send it to LAHSA headquarters. As a precaution, census tracts with missing, partial, or questionable data were flagged by noon the next day for extensive review by our team. Tracts determined to be lacking the necessary data were flagged for a makeup count.
"For the particular census tract brought to LAHSA's attention, that procedure was followed. At the conclusion of their count, the volunteers gave the map to the deployment site, and the staff entered the information into the digital dashboard and took a picture of the map.
"Attached is a picture of the map used by the volunteers for the particular census tract LAHSA was notified about for this story. We have recorded the data given to the deployment site by the volunteers.
"If any volunteer believes that the deployment site did not record the data they collected during their count, they should contact LAHSA immediately at homelesscount@lahsa.org, so that we can take the appropriate steps to ensure all data is counted."
App-maker Esri's statement:
"No system-wide login issues were reported to Esri during the count. For individual users, a variety of reasons can sometimes impact logging in, including credentials or internet connectivity. To help with this, we provide multiple login options, including social app logins, to access our technology. We are always looking for ways to make the experience easier for our users. Esri's app works in both on and offline modes and scales to support thousands of volunteers. We are proud to have been part of a successful point in time count for LAHSA."