Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA)

Every January, thousands of community volunteers like you come together to count people experiencing homelessness. They count, will you?

Los Angeles is home to the largest unsheltered homeless population in the nation, but by working together, we are making a real difference. The Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count is an essential part of our efforts to address homelessness, providing us with data to allocate resources more effectively and identify areas where additional services are needed.

2026 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count

• One-time
• Teens, 21+, 55+, Adults
• Individuals, Groups (2-10), Groups (10+), Corporate Teams, Families
• In Person, Event support, Project-based
• On-site, Formal

What to Expect: We visually count our neighbors who are experiencing homelessness, organized from approximately 150 Deployment Sites covering the majority of LA County.

• We count at night (generally starting at 8 PM) to capture a point in time estimate after most of our unhoused neighbors settle in for the evening.
• Volunteering only takes about 4 hours of your evening, and your participation is crucial to generating data used to track progress and allocate funding to the areas with the highest need.
• To find a deployment site near you and register, visit our website. You will also find training videos, a guide to downloading the Quick Capture app, and all the information you need to join this effort.
• Volunteers gather at a deployment site, form teams of two, are assigned specific census tracts, and then head out to count from their car using the easy to use Quick Capture app.
• Training is available on demand on our website and the onsite team at your deployment site will answer any remaining questions you have.

What’s Required:

• Requirements include offering approximately 4 hours of your time during one or more of the evenings of January 20th, 21st, and 22nd 2026.
• At least one team member must download the Quick Capture app
• At least one team member must be willing to drive through the assigned census tract(s).
• Youth may participate with adult supervision. All participants must sign a liability waiver (including at time of registration).
• All participants must review the training resources available on our website.

LAHSA is a joint powers authority of the city and county of Los Angeles, created in 1993 to address the problem of homelessness in Los Angeles County. LAHSA is the lead agency in the HUD-funded Los Angeles Continuum of Care, and coordinates and manages federal, state, county, and city funds for programs providing shelter, housing, and services to people experiencing homelessness.

Our Mission: Our mission is to drive the collaborative strategic vision to create solutions for the crisis of homelessness grounded in hope, compassion, and community.