LA County sees drop in homeless deaths, the first in 10 years

Paris Barraza, USA TODAYTue, March 10, 2026 at 11:11 PM UTC

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The mortality rate among homeless people in Los Angeles County decreased for the first time in more than 10 years, though one public health leader warned the welcome gains are at risk of being lost due to funding reductions.

The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health found that the mortality rate decreased by 10% in 2024, the latest available data. It marks the first decrease reported since 2014, the department’s first year of data on homeless mortality, according to a report unveiled on Tuesday, March 10.

In total, 2,208 Los Angeles County people experiencing homelessness died in 2024, which is 300 people fewer compared to 2023.

While the news was welcomed by Los Angeles County supervisors and public health officials, they agreed that the mortality rate was still too high. But the future of continued improvements is less clear amid decreases in funding, as Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer noted in a statement.

“At a time of major reductions in federal and state funding for homeless services and supports, we are at risk of losing precious ground and seeing an increase in the number of vulnerable people losing their lives,” Ferrer said.

The drop was in part due to a 21% decrease in drug overdose deaths among homeless people, according to the department. Drug overdose, coronary heart disease, traffic-related injuries, homicide and suicide make up the bulk of causes of death in the county’s homeless population, according to the department. Despite the improvements, it is drug and alcohol overdose that remains the leading cause of death among homeless people in 2024, according to the report.

Officials didn’t give definitive reasons for what led to the decrease in drug overdoses during a press conference on March 10. However, they did provide some general insight about what might be responsible for that decrease.

“I think that there's a continuum of services that we've focused on across prevention, harm reduction, treatment, as well as recovery services and recovery housing that, from a service perspective, we think has driven down overdose deaths,” said Gary Tsai, Substance Abuse Prevention and Control Bureau director with the department.

He said that it could also be due to fentanyl’s potency being reduced, though he didn’t have data specifically about the topic.

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1 / 0After medical setbacks, a family works to escape homelessness

Johnika Jamison, 38, holding her daughter Everly, 1. Her family has been homeless for more than a year after she and her husband experienced medical troubles that put them out of work. Jamison is struggling to lead her family out of homelessness while tending to their everyday care and needs. Jamison along with her husband and three daughters have been staying in a small hotel room for weeks as they embark on year two of homelessness. Jamison dreams of better days, but tending to her family's care needs takes up so much of her time she barely has a moment to look for work.

So, how does the county improve on mortality rate among its homeless population? Among the department’s recommendations are:

Build on interim and permanent housing options for homeless people

Maintain and expand enrollment in Medi-Cal, the state’s Medicaid program, among homeless people

Sustain and grow mental health services for county residents experiencing homelessness

The recommendations come as California braces for significant federal health care funding cuts. President Donald Trump’s “One Big, Beautiful Bill Act,” which was signed into law in July 2025, will impact Medi-Cal. More specifically, the changing work requirements, paired with “administrative burden,” could leave up to 2 million people without Medi-Cal, according to the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office. By 2028, up to 3 million people could lose Medi-Cal, both due to the OBBA and changes made in California’s budget, Miranda Dietz, director of the Health Care Program at UC Berkley Labor Center, told California lawmakers in February.

Losing eligibility does jeopardize people’s access to substance use services, Tsai said when asked about how the federal health care cuts could impact the department’s strategies to reduce the homeless mortality rate.

However, the “substance use population” is exempt from the work requirements, he said. According to the Center for Health Care Strategies, people in a qualifying “substance use disorder treatment program” are exempt, as well as those who are considered “medically frail,” which include people with a substance use disorder.

“We are doing work to make sure that leading up to the January 2027 implementation of the work requirements and other issues, that the substance use community is aware that they are exempt,” Tsai said.

In February, county supervisors approved an $843 million spending plan for the Los Angeles County Department of Homeless Services and Housing, with more than $500 million earmarked for interim and permanent housing across the county, according to HSH.

Los Angeles County has proposed a temporary sales tax increase — which will be up to voters to approve — that could generate approximately $1 billion annually to help mitigate local health care impacts due to the funding cuts.

The next report about the county's homeless mortality rates will be released in early 2027 to reflect 2025 data.

Paris Barraza is a reporter covering Los Angeles and Southern California for the USA TODAY Network. Reach her at pbarraza@usatodayco.com.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: LA County's homeless mortality rate drops, the first in 10 years

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