Women Experiencing Homelessness in Los Angeles
Every January, the Los Angeles County Homeless Services
Authority (LAHSA) conducts a count of the number of people experiencing
homelessness in LA County. From 2018 to 2019, the number of people experiencing
homelessness in the City of LA rose by 16%
to 36,165. In 2019, 30%
of the City’s entire homeless population were women. Women experiencing
homelessness face a unique set of challenges that require extra consideration
including mental and physical health as well as safety.
Demographics
In 2018, the USC Price Center for Social Innovation partnered
with the Downtown Women’s Center to write a report on the state of women’s
homelessness in the city of Los Angeles. The report examined the characteristics
of women experiencing homelessness including race, age, familial makeup, and
location.
When compared with the general population of adult women,
defined as women over age 25, women experiencing homelessness were found to be disproportionately
Black and between the ages of 51-60.
Hover over the graph below to see the ethnic distribution of women experiencing homelessness compared to that of the general population of women.
According to our analyses, in 2019, 83% of all women
experiencing homelessness in the City of Los Angeles reported that they were living
alone as opposed to in a family unit. Thirty-four percent of that population
were chronically homeless. Chronic homelessness describes people who have
experienced homelessness for at least a year — or more than four times in the
past three years — while struggling with a disabling condition such as a
serious mental illness, substance use disorder, or physical disability. These
metrics are important to measure because homeless women living alone for an
extended period of time may be more likely to feel unsafe than men in a similar
situation, given the prevalence of sexual assault faced by homeless women. A
nationally representative survey in 2007 found that 16% of single females reported
experiencing sexual assault while homeless as compared with just 4% of men.
Location
The location of those living without permanent housing is
also an important metric because it helps service providers determine where their
services are most needed. Alternatively, people experiencing homelessness may
be drawn to neighborhoods where service providers have created strong networks
and relationships.
In 2019, 75% of all women experiencing homelessness were
unsheltered and the highest concentration was living Downtown. This is
particularly concerning when considering that those who are unsheltered are
more effected by environmental contaminants such as air quality, which is a
major problem in Downtown. In 2017 the pollution burden was 8.32, well above
the LA County average of 6.2. Air quality, as measured by the average annual
concentration of fine particulate matter in the air, was 12.89 micrograms per
cubic meter of air whereas the LA County average was 11.5 micrograms per cubic
meter.
Hover over the map below to see where the highest concentration of women experiencing homelessness is by City Council District.
Furthermore, high rents in Downtown make housing people in
that neighborhood particularly difficult. Rent burden, defined as the
percentage of renters spending more than 30% of their monthly income on rent
and utilities, was 51% in Downtown in 2017. Severe rent burden, the percentage
of renters spending 50% or more of their monthly income on rent and utilities,
was 24%.
Unique Challenges Facing Women
In 2019, nearly 56% of adult women experiencing homelessness
in the City of Los Angeles reported also having experienced domestic violence,
with 8% of unsheltered adult women reporting that fleeing domestic abuse was
the reason for their housing instability. According to the World
Health Organization, domestic violence has much further-reaching impacts
than any physical injuries it may cause. Women who experience intimate partner
violence suffer higher levels of depression and anxiety than those who do not,
resulting in an increased need for mental health treatment. This treatment is
difficult to access for women experiencing homelessness.
Similarly, access to other types of healthcare is a serious
problem for this population. Seventy-three
percent of homeless individuals reported having at least one unmet medical
need. Women have an additional set of healthcare concerns as a result of
pregnancy and menstrual cycles. The average woman will spend up to $300
annually on feminine hygiene products, an amount well out of reach for women
experiencing homelessness. Additionally they often lack proper pregnancy care
and are 2.9
times more likely to give birth prematurely, leading to smaller and less
healthy babies.
Lastly, in 2019, 44%
of unsheltered adult women experiencing homelessness reported social
circumstances, such as a relationship ending or household conflict, as the key
reason for their lack of housing, while 40% reported economic hardship. Studies
have shown that individual female households are more
likely to be rent burdened than individual male households, and women of
color experience the highest rates of rent burden. This, along
with structural and institutional racism, may help explain the
disproportionately large number of Black women experiencing homelessness, given
the link between housing unaffordability and homelessness.
Downtown Women's Health Center
One organization working at the heart of the homelessness
crisis is the Downtown Women’s
Center (DWC). Using the Housing First model, DWC provides 119 units of
permanent supportive housing for single unaccompanied women across two
residences in downtown Los Angeles. Each resident has access to individualized
support and services including health care, education, job readiness, and
community-building activities. Their Day Center, located at one of the
residences, is an entry point for women-centered services including three meals
daily, clean bathrooms and clothes, an address to receive mail, a safe place to
rest, and one-on-one case management. Day Center case managers can also link
women to healthcare, legal aid, transportation, job training and educational
services, as well as work placements and other resources. An onsite health
clinic provides primary care, STD and HIV testing, tuberculosis and cancer
screenings, vaccinations, mammograms, and physicals as well as mental health
assessments. DWC also provides services for women who have experienced domestic
violence or other hardships through their Trauma Recovery Center. Finally, they
operate several businesses through their
social enterprise MADE by DWC, including a café, a resale boutique, and a home
and gift collection, where women enrolled in their job training programs learn
the skills needed to create a line of hand-crafted products.
Policy Solutions
While DWC provides much-needed services for their community,
in order to address the root cause of the growing homelessness crisis we need
large scale investments in affordable housing and other housing solutions. There
are two types of housing strategies popular among researchers and those who
advocate for solutions to homelessness. The first, transitional housing, is a
temporary housing program intended to help people ready themselves to move to
permanent housing. Transitional housing programs are intended to serve people
for no more than 2 years and usually have specific supportive services as a
part of the program.
While transitional housing programs may provide temporary
support, Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is the preferred strategy for people
who may continue to need supportive services after they find permanent housing.
PSH provides low-cost affordable housing without term limits. Importantly, PSH
employs a “housing first” model, which provides housing to individuals
experiencing homelessness without preconditions such as sobriety or
participation in treatment services. The most successful PSH programs also
provide health care and other support services. One such program in Los
Angeles, Housing
for Health, found that participants had improved self-reported mental
health, fewer emergency health needs, and fewer arrests after participating.
Providing further funding to similar PSH programs could help improve the lives
of women, and any person, experiencing homelessness.
Women experiencing homelessness face a unique set of issues
including domestic abuse and safety, healthcare, and low wages. While policy
solutions such as large-scale transitional housing and PSH are important goals
to strive towards, those policies may take several years to implement.
Organizations such as DWC are providing critical support for women experiencing
homelessness today.
Photo Credits: Barry Shaffer
Sources
Baker, R., Gelberg, L., Heslin, K., Robinson, L. (2007). Community Characteristics and Violence Against Homeless Women in Los Angeles County. Journal of Healthcare for the Poor and Underserved. Accessed 2/4/2020 from: https://muse.jhu.edu/article/210743
Benitez, J., Fels, K., Glenn, C., Goodman, L. (2006). No Safe Place: Sexual Assault in the Lives of Homeless Women. National Online Resource Center for Violence Against Women. Accessed 1/30/2020 from: https://vawnet.org/material/no-safe-place-sexual-assault-lives-homeless-women
Briscombe, B., Cefalu, M., Harvey, M., Hunter, S. (2017). Evaluation of Housing for Health Permanent Supportive Housing Program. Rand Corporation. Accessed 1/30/2020 from: https://www.rand.org/pubs/research_reports/RR1694.html
Committee on Health Care for Underserved Women (2013). Health Care for Homeless Women. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Accessed 2/1/2020 from: https://www.acog.org/Clinical-Guidance-and-Publications/Committee-Opinions/Committee-on-Health-Care-for-Underserved-Women/Health-Care-for-Homeless-Women?IsMobileSet=false
Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority (2019). Female Data Summary. Accessed 1/28/2020 from: https://www.lahsa.org/documents?id=4019-hc2019-females-data-summary
Los Angeles Homelessness Services Authority (2019). City of Los Angeles Data Summary. Accessed 1/28/2020 from: https://www.lahsa.org/documents?id=3421-2019-greater-los-angeles-homeless-count-city-of-los-angeles.pdf
National Equity Atlas (2017). When Renters Rise, Cities Thrive. Accessed 2/4/2020 from: https://nationalequityatlas.org/sites/default/files/National-Fact-Sheet.pdf
USC Price Center for Social Innovation (2019). City of Los Angeles Women's Housing Gap Analysis. Accessed 1/28/2020 from: https://www.downtownwomenscenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/Womens-Housing-Gaps-Analysis_Final.pdf
World Health Organization. (2012). Understanding and Addressing Violence Against Women. Accessed 1/26/2020 from: https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/77432/WHO_RHR_12.36_eng.pdf;jsessionid=2AC48B50292CB66E99EF6C6FFE6090ED?sequence=1