Cities near Long Beach, including Compton and Lakewood, saw a rise in the number of homeless people this year compared to last year, according to the county’s 2019 homeless count numbers.

Los Angeles County released its city and community homeless count numbers Friday evening, June 14, showing increases for some of the nine cities around Long Beach compared to last year, though the numbers for the area, overall, remained relatively flat compared to the county as a whole. Nearly 59,000 people were experiencing homelessness in the county this year when the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority conducted its point-in-time count in January, according to that agency’s data.

The county saw a 12% increase overall in its homeless population, compared to 2018.

Long Beach, which conducts its own biennial homeless count, found its homeless population compared to 2017 was essentially flat: There was a 2% increase, but those numbers fell within the margin of error. The city did, however, see a rise in its first-time homeless population.

Lakewood’s homeless population, meanwhile, jumped by 51% compared to last year, from 104 in 2018 to 157 this year. About one-third of those counted were on the streets and nearly one-half were in RVs, campers or cars, according to the report.

Lakewood City Manager Thaddeus McCormack said on Monday, June 17, that “it’s sadly not a surprise” the number of homeless people has risen over the past year, as it has in other nearby areas.

But, he noted, the majority of the increase came from people living in vehicles.

“This signifies an increasing segment of the population, in Lakewood and places beyond,” McCormack said, “who are living on the margins of our economy.”

The city is working with PATH, a regional homeless service agency, and a community outreach specialist from the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department to assist those in need, he added.

Compton — which, of all the cities near, and except for, Long Beach, has the largest homeless population — also saw an increase in its homeless population, from 832 last year to 926 this year, or about an 11% rise. The majority of those counted were also in RVs or campers, according to the county.

Compton’s city manager, Cecil Rhambo, said on Saturday, June 15, that “Compton is in the midst of proactive efforts to address homelessness.”

That city, Rhambo said, has created a working group to develop “compassionate solutions” to the crisis, and has struck partnerships with Homeless Outreach Program Integrated Care System, Volunteers of America and other groups.

“The city,” he wrote in a statement, “is also currently assessing several locations to serve as potential sites for housing.”

Lynwood, on the other hand, had a 24% decrease, from 149 in 2018 to 113 this year. The number of folks living in RVs, campers and cars, though, increased by about 10 people — with the proportion of those living in vehicles compared to the overall number of homeless jumping from 27% to 44%.

Over the past several months, Lynwood has increased its homeless services by adding a new case service manager, according to a February statement. That person, Jennifer Montoya, placed five individuals and one family into crisis housing shelters since she started in October, according to the city.

Officials for Lynwood did not provide comment for this story by deadline.

Cities and neighborhoods, however, can see their percentage-change data swing wildly compared to overall county, or even regional, numbers, because the sample size will typically be smaller. The by-city data released Friday also did not include the margin-of-error.

The county’s homeless count takes place in different areas for three days in January. LAHSA instructs each city on how to conduct the homeless count.

The count is done by walking or driving through the cities, said Colleen Doan, planning manager for Signal Hill’s Community Development Department.

Signal Hill’s homeless count also went up slightly, with 50 this year compared to 37 in 2018.

“You go through every street, every alley and parking lot in the entire city in one evening,” Doan said.

Doan, who has organized the homeless count for her city the past six years, said volunteers are trained on how to identify people experiencing homelessness.

“We don’t go up to talk to people,” she said, “We don’t take names at all. They call it a ‘windshield survey’ and we have training on how to make an educated guess on whether a person in a vehicle, shelter or on the streets might be homeless.”

Sean Wright, a LAHSA spokesman, confirmed that the county instructs volunteers not to talk to people or double-check that the ones being counted are, in fact, homeless.

Officials do, however, train their volunteers how to fill out the tally sheet to count the homeless population, Wright said.

These are the numbers for other nearby cities, compared to last year:

Artesia: 25 in 2019; 17 in 2018

Bellflower: 148 in 2019; 139 in 2018

Cerritos: 55 in 2019; 61 in 2018

Downey: 173 in 2019; 182 in 2018

Paramount: 115 in 2019; 102 in 2018

South Gate: 356 in 2019; 263 in 2018

Officials for the Artesia, Bellflower, Cerritos, Downey, Paramount and South Gate did not respond to requests for comment.