The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority announced on Dec. 1 that the homeless rehousing system made 10,373 permanent housing placements in the first half of 2021.

Black Angelenos experiencing homelessness represented approximately 45% of the placements in the first six months of 2021, significantly out-pacing their representation in the Los Angeles Continuum of Care (34%). The same was true for women experiencing homelessness, who made up 47% of 2021’s housing placements.

“The Los Angeles region continues to receive an excellent return on its investment in our rehousing system. Despite the increased complications of the global pandemic, our system has continued to end homelessness for thousands of people,” said Heidi Marston, executive director of LAHSA. “However, we need to increase this momentum to end homelessness in our society. We can only do so if our community makes a proportional investment in increasing the housing supply available to our unhoused neighbors.”

Los Angeles County’s lack of affordable housing is well documented. According to the California Housing Partnership’s 2021 Affordable Housing Needs Report, Los Angeles County needs 499,430 affordable homes to meet the current housing demand. The lack of affordable and permanent housing is a constraint on the homeless rehousing system’s ability to end homelessness for thousands of Angelenos across the county, Marston said.

Despite the lack of affordable units, LAHSA and its partners continue to search for ways to connect people experiencing homelessness to housing. As part of the Biden Administration’s American Rescue Plan, the Los Angeles area received 6,800 emergency housing vouchers that were distributed throughout the county.

As of Nov. 24, LAHSA has submitted 3,017 applications for emergency housing vouchers to the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles. The Los Angeles County Development Authority has also received 1,746 emergency housing voucher applications from LAHSA and its partners.

Earlier this year, LAHSA introduced its universal housing application, an online portal that speeds up the housing application process by consolidating 15 applications into one easy-to-use digital system. It matches people experiencing homelessness with suitable permanent housing. For information, visit lahsa.org.