LOS ANGELES REMAINS US HOMELESS CAPITAL

LOS ANGELES (AFP) — Los Angeles remains the United States homeless capital with more than 40,000 people sleeping rough every night, official figures showed Thursday.

Figures released by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) showed that there were 40,144 people living on the streets of the city out of a population of around four million. Across the entire region of Los Angeles county, which has a population of around 10 million, there were 73,000 homeless, the LAHSA study found.

The last major survey of homelessness in the city two years ago found 88,000 homeless, although because of changes to the methods used to reach the totals, the two tallies are not comparable, the study said.

Nevertheless, Los Angeles remains the city with the United States' worst homeless problem, said LAHSA executive director Rebecca Isaacs. "The situation is still extremely serious. Clearly, a great deal of work remains to be done to reduce end homelessness in our county," Isaacs said. Of the 73,000 homeless, 10,000 were minors, 24,505 suffered from a mental illness, 8,453 were military veterans and nearly 7,200 were victims of domestic abuse

LOS ANGELES REMAINS US HOMELESS CAPITAL