CITY OF BELLFLOWER
2022 HOMELESS CENSUS &
2019, 2020, 2022 DATA COMPARISON
Bellflower City Council Presentation
July 11, 2022
Goals
Identify a baseline number of individuals living without housing against which to measure current and future homelessness prevention and intervention efforts.
Determine the demographic, assets, challenges and other special characteristics of individuals without housing to inform resource allocation.
Since this is a comparative census, we get an updated baseline number (1) and updated demographics (2).
About the Census
April 19, 2022
Morning
April 21, 2022
Evening
Census: Two days. We sent out 3 teams (1 Deputy paired with 2 or 3 City Net Staff). Census Team used pre determined hotspots and designated regions of the city for maps. The same team captain was sent to the same locations both census days.
Image 1: Morning - Staff Sebastian completing the census survey with homeless neighbor.
Image 2: Evening – Staff exploring city while completing the census in the evening
THE 2022 CENSUS
First we will take a look at some of the results from the most recent 2022 census. We will be comparing this to the previous 2019 and 2020 censuses later in the presentation. More information can be found in the Bellflower Homeless Census Comparison Report for 2019, 2020, and 2022 we recently submitted to the city.
Image: Former Staff, Anthony, completing the census survey with homeless neighbor.
2022 Total Unsheltered Count
75 Individuals
We identified 75 unsheltered individuals. Of those 75, 55 agreed to participate in our survey.
2022 Unsheltered Geography
Note: There are 75 dots on this map. They may overlap in high density areas.
BELLFLOWER
Homeless Individuals
Bellflower
This map shows the locations of the 75 homeless individuals we identified. Some areas had a high density of individuals, so the dots may overlap.
High Density Areas:
The greatest densities of homeless individuals were engaged near the shopping center at the intersection of Alondra Blvd. and Lakewood Blvd., the intersection of Lakewood Blvd. and the 91 Freeway, as well as along Artesia Blvd.
Composite
Viewed as a composite of the highest-frequency responses, the typical unsheltered homeless individual in Bellflower identifies as a Hispanic or Latino male between the ages of 35 and 44 who is chronically homeless and sleeps in Bellflower.
CHRONICALLY HOMELESS DEFINITION: Have been homeless for more than a year, and have a permanent disability, substance abuse, or mental health concerns.
65.5% of those who took the survey were chronically homeless.
Desired Resources
n = 55
n = 55
Interested in Case Management: 81.8% of respondents said they were interested in case management. 7.3% answered “Doesn’t know”. 10.9% said no.
Interested in going to a Shelter: 47.3% said they were interested in going to a shelter. 52.7% said no.
2019 ● 2020 ● 2022
DATA COMPARISON
Now we will take a look at how the 2022 census compares to our previous censuses in Belflower from 2019 and 2020.
Image: Staff, Molly, completing the census survey with homeless neighbor.
Total Unsheltered Counts
Total unsheltered counts from each census.
75 unsheltered individuals in 2022.
65.1% decrease from 172 to 60 unsheltered individuals in 2020. **New Hope Shelter opened: May 20, 2020
25.0% increase from 60 to 75 unsheltered individuals in 2022.
OVERALL 56.4% DECREASE FROM 2019 TO 2022. Very encouraging!
Unsheltered Geography
Note: There are 307 dots on this map. They may overlap in high density areas.
BELLFLOWER
2019: 172
2020: 60
2022: 75
Light blue = 2022 only. NEW LOCATIONS
Red = 2019 and 2020. OLD LOCATIONS
Dark Purple = Where 2022 overlapped with at least one other year (2019 and 2020). OVERLAPPING LOCATIONS
High Density Areas:
intersection of Alondra Blvd. and Lakewood Blvd
intersection of Lakewood Blvd
91 Freeway, as well as along Artesia Blvd.
Participation in Multiple Censuses
96 5
28 1
46 9
3 2019
2020
2022
This diagram is based only on comparable data, or those individuals who provided enough name and date of birth information to determine whether or not there were multiple encounters.
First Name + Last Name + Date of Birth = Comparable Dataset Comparable Dataset is NOT equal to the Total Unsheltered Count because individuals who did not provide part of their name or date of birth were NOT included in this analysis.
Transient nature of homelessness - The reality is that there are a lot of people living in poverty. Some people will be the same (chronic homelessness), but a much larger group will be in and out of housing. (Canoe analogy)
Explination:
Only 3 individuals were present during all three census counts.
96 individuals were unique to 2019.
28 individuals were unique to 2020.
46 individuals were unique to 2022.
5 individuals were present during both 2019 and 2020.
1 individual were present during both 2020 and 2022.
9 individuals were present during both 2019 and 2022.
Sheriffs, City Net Outreach, and public safety team said they saw a lot of new faces during the census timeframe.
Recommendations
Investments yield results:
LASD homelessness training and focus
Local street outreach and engagement
Bellflower homeless shelter
COVID-19 investments
Seek out regional partnerships related to shelter and housing
Long-term need = Housing
Mission = To always be educating.
Make investments into resources - invest and engage.
Image: City Net Staff, Amanda, and former staff, Anthony, surveying two homeless neighbors. Paramount Sheriffs guiding us around the city.
Stronger partnerships with neighboring cities, ongoing street outreach
Beds? Full 55 capacity?
If contracted, would number sgo down? – Discuss offline, but possibly.
SPECIAL THANKS
City Net thanks the City of Bellflower and the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department for their help conducting this census and for their tireless efforts to support and empower homeless neighbors in the city. Additionally, we thank the dozens of homeless individuals who voluntarily agreed to participate in the census.
Image: Census Day Team in front of LA County Sheriff’s Department in Bellflower after completing the morning census on April 19th, 2022.
Q & A
Image: Staff, Andres, completing the census survey with homeless neighbor.
CONTACT