Long Beach needs volunteers to help conduct its biennial survey of the city’s homeless population.

Every two years, hundreds of volunteers count the city’s homeless residents in order to qualify for federal funds from the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Long Beach, however, goes a step further and interviews each person to better understand who they are and what services they need.

“We’re actually asking questions and talking to people,” said Elsa Ramos, coordinator of the city’s Multi-Service Center for the Homeless.

This year, about 400 volunteers are needed, according to Ramos. On Jan. 26, they’ll deploy in two waves through 47 different segments of the city, she said.

The first wave at 5 a.m. will look at where homeless people are sleeping, and the second wave at 8 a.m. will try to determine where they congregate during the day.

By asking questions, the volunteers will create a unique identifier for each person they talk to so any duplicates in the count can be filtered out, Ramos said.

“We’re just trying to ensure we’re capturing everyone that’s experiencing homelessness in the city,” she said.

Past counts have shown the homeless population in Long beach declining since 2011.

The total number fell from 3,164 in 2011 to 2,847 in 2013 and 2,345 in 2015, according to data on the city’s website.

Federal money secured by the homeless count goes toward funding Long Beach’s Continuum of Care, which is a network of service providers coordinated by the city, Ramos said.

The continuum receives more than $7.5 million from HUD, according to Ramos.

Anyone who wants to volunteer for the count should fill out and submit a form available on the city’s website.

Officials also want volunteers to attend one of six training sessions on Jan. 17, 18 and 19. There will be two session each day, one at 1 p.m. and one at 6 p.m. All of them will take place in the Multi-Service Center at 1301 W. 12th St., Long Beach.

More information is available by visiting the city’s homeless services website or by contacting Ramos at 562-570-4588 or Elsa.Ramos@longbeach.gov. Completed volunteer forms may be emailed to Ramos or faxed to 562-570-4066.

Volunteers must be over 18.