The Los Angeles County Department of Health Services recently announced that they’ve been using artificial intelligence to predict who is at risk of being unhoused.
First reported by NPR, the idea for the new program uses data from seven county agencies, studying statistics for emergency room visits, required mental health crisis care, substance abuse diagnosis, arrests and sign-ups for benefits.
With the help of machine learning in the form of artificial intelligence, the L.A. Homeless Prevention Unit determines who is likely to lose their home and reaches out to provide them with aid before it happens.
Using the lists generated by A.I., 16 case managers are currently working on sending letters and calling to offer the people a place in their pilot program.
Created by the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services, the pilot program offers financial assistance and connects the people who need it to supportive services such as health care, mental health care, legal services and more.
According to the leader of the Homelessness Prevention Unit, the program was created to help reduce the rising rates of unhoused California citizens.
“It’s a bucket with a hole in it, so we’ve got to do something … to fill that hole,” said the leader of the department’s Homelessness Prevention unit, Dana Vanderford, per NPR. “We have clients who have understandable mistrust of systems. They’ve ‘experienced generational trauma.’ Our clients are extremely unlikely to reach out for help.”
LAHSA's Homeless Prevention Program delivers financial and problem-solving assistance to people at imminent risk of falling into homelessness. If you need help, visit our website or contact a service provider in your area: https://t.co/fD9ZIdHgHq pic.twitter.com/apPCxLS7DJ
— LA Homeless Services Authority (@LAHomeless) August 12, 2022
According to the latest data released as part of the 2023 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count results, there was a nine percent increase in rates of unhoused individuals on any given night in Los Angeles County and a 10% increase in the city, totaling up to 46, 260 unhoused people.
While many ethnic groups and demographics are represented in the rates of unhoused individuals in Los Angeles, Black Americans are amongst those that record the highest rates. Per the Neighborhood Housing Services of Los Angeles County, although they make up eight percent of the Los Angeles population, Black Americans make up 34% of the city’s unhoused citizens.
According to leaders of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the disparities in the unhoused rates indicate that Black American citizens of Los Angeles are not receiving the aid they need. Citing racism, discrimination and unconscious bias as reasons behind the high rates, the group emphasized the need to take action against systemic bias that affect Black Americans from policies pertaining to housing and employment.
“This report is a critical first step to address the collective failings of systems and institutions that—de facto and de jure—have been designed to deliver the painful disparities that affect so many of our brothers and sisters,” said the Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas per a statement. “Hard work lies ahead to counter this tragic inheritance. If our region is to prosper, it is not only a moral imperative, it is an absolute economic imperative that all who call Los Angeles home are able to attain their full measure of dignity and self-worth.”
