Meeting_Body
EXECUTIVE MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
JANUARY 15, 2026
Subject
SUBJECT: HOME QUARTERLY REPORT
Action
ACTION: RECEIVE AND FILE
Heading
RECOMMENDATION
Title
RECEIVE AND FILE the HOME Quarterly Report.
Issue
ISSUE
Los Angeles County is experiencing a homelessness crisis, and the spillover results in many unhoused individuals seeking shelter on Metro’s rail and busway system. Since 2017, Metro has been funding, with operations eligible fund sources, local social service agencies to deploy multidisciplinary teams who engage and deliver resources and services to unhoused riders. In addition, Metro has partnered with local homeless shelters to provide beds for the outreach teams to utilize. This is a report on the status and outcomes of Metro’s homeless engagements for the quarter July - September of 2025.
Background
BACKGROUND
Metro continues to fund multidisciplinary teams (MDTs) who perform outreach to people experiencing homelessness (PEH) on Metro’s rail and bus systems. Metro began contracting with eight MDTs through the LA County Department of Health Services (DHS) in 2017, expanding the contracted outreach services to the current total of 24 MDTs. The initial eight teams were employed by the community agency People Assisting the Homeless (PATH); Metro now has five additional community agencies that deploy MDTs: Christ Centered Ministries (CCM), HOPICS, LA Family Housing, Union Station Homeless Services, and Helpline Youth Counseling.
Metro has made notable progress in addressing homelessness on Metro’s rail and busway systems since 2017 through the expansion of MDT outreach, increased access to housing resources, and improved partnerships with City, County, and Community partners. Metro MDTs focus on engaging individuals and connecting them to housing and other services and are deployed across the entire rail and bus system seven days a week, with 24-hour coverage Monday through Friday. The six community agencies that deploy the 24 MDTs are based in different areas of LA County and are strategically assigned to segments of the Metro system located in their regions.
In addition to MDT outreach, Metro currently funds, with operations eligible fund sources, a total of 45 interim housing beds through LA County DHS. These beds, located in Central Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley, are reserved for MDTs to directly refer the people they serve. Metro MDTs also have access to 25 beds through partnerships with the LA County Chief Executive Office Homeless Initiative (LA CEO-HI) and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Agency (LAHSA). Through a partnership with Supervisory District Four, 10 beds in Long Beach are funded through June 2026 to ensure resources remain available at the A line end of line station.
Since 2023, Metro has increased the number of interim housing resources from 25 to the current total of 80. These beds provide occupants with access to a wide range of resources and programming that address a variety of client needs. All beds are required to provide 24-hour access, offering a vital resource to people experiencing homelessness during the late evening and early morning hours of Metro operation. Through the key partnerships between Metro and external stakeholders, staff plan for the continued expansion of Metro-specific interim housing resources.
Since 2018, Metro MDTs have enrolled 25,695 individuals into the Homeless Management and Information System (HMIS), allowing them to gain access to homeless resources and services. The teams have successfully connected 6,791 people to interim housing and 1,776 people to permanent housing.
Discussion
DISCUSSION
The following quarterly report provides an overview of the homeless response activities from July 2025 to September 2025.
Operational Capacity and Deployment
Of the 24 teams currently funded under the active DHS contract, 23 teams have been deployed, with the remaining team in the recruitment process. MDTs perform outreach on the rail and bus system seven days a week, with 24-hour coverage Monday through Friday. Outreach data is collected daily and analyzed to inform strategic deployment planning. Data analysis shows the highest levels of activity on the A, B, D, and E lines, which is where most teams are deployed using three strategic approaches: 1) co-deployment with Metro Ambassadors, Transit Security, and Law Enforcement partners at mutually agreed upon focus stations, 2) rover from station to station along designated lines within their respective deployment zones, and 3) nighttime deployment to End of Line stations Monday through Friday.
Impact
MDTs use a person-centered approach when performing outreach on the Metro system, focusing on building rapport and trust to meet individuals’ needs. The primary goal is to connect people to interim or permanent housing. The multidisciplinary nature of these teams allows them to provide individuals with a variety of resources, from basic food, water, and clothing to substance use and mental health interventions.
During this first quarter of the fiscal year, the MDTs successfully enrolled 1,873 people into the HMIS. The HOME department sets an annual housing connection goal for the total number of individuals placed into either interim or permanent housing. Metro’s total housing placement goal for this fiscal year is 2,100, which represents a 17% increase over last year’s goal of 1,800 total placements. During this quarter, the MDTs enrolled 596 individuals into interim housing and connected 61 individuals to permanent housing. This amounts to a total of 657 housing placements in quarter one, which is 125% of the Q1 goal. Figure 1 in Attachment A shows the quarterly outcomes for the current fiscal year.
MDT staff have a variety of housing placement options for both interim and permanent housing. When making connections to housing, teams attempt to prioritize the needs and preferences of everyone they engage, while balancing the types of housing resources available for referrals. Successful alignment of these factors can be challenging, but MDTs have made strong impacts toward their housing placement goal. So far this fiscal year, 75% of non-permanent placements were traditional interim housing and crisis housing. For permanent placements, Metro MDTs have successfully reunited individuals with either their family or friends, which collectively account for 55% of the total placements. Figure 2 and Figure 3 in Attachment A show the breakdown of interim and permanent placements from July 1, 2025, through September 30, 2025.
End of Line Outreach
Various communities have expressed concerns regarding unhoused riders exiting trains at end of line (EOL) stations located in their neighborhoods. In response to these concerns, the Board requested an EOL assessment be conducted. Beginning in September 2023, a bi-annual count & survey began and continues to take place each March and September. On a single night between the hours of 11:30pm to 2am, 30 volunteers consisting of Metro homeless outreach teams, Metro Staff and County partners deploy to all EOL stations where trains terminate service for nightly maintenance. Each of the stations deboard trains after 11:30 pm, and passengers are asked to exit the trains and the stations as rail service concludes. Volunteers conduct counts and surveys of unhoused passengers as they vacate, offering gift cards for survey participation. Security and law enforcement partners direct passengers toward surveyors during deboarding to promote engagement and accurate counts.
Six separate counts & surveys have taken place since September 2023. Over the course of these six events, the average total number of PEH counted across all end of line stations is 212 or an average of 20 PEH per station.
Throughout the six counts, surveys have been conducted to learn more about people who ride to the EOL stations when trains go out of service. By incentivizing participants with a $25 gift card, teams have obtained a 48% survey participation rate. Figure 4 in Attachment A shows the combined results of the survey data collected by volunteers.
The combined survey data provides a few insights into the behaviors of unhoused riders who exit trains at the end of service. Of those surveyed, more than half reported becoming unhoused in the past one to four years. Sixty-nine percent of respondents indicated that they use Metro for shelter, with 77% reboarding when service resumes in the morning. Sixty-one percent of respondents reported exiting to an outdoor location after deboarding; however, when asked if they would accept services such as shelter, food, clothing, etc., almost all respondents replied in the affirmative. This speaks to the need for more services to be available during the late evening and early morning hours. Lastly, when asked whether they first experienced homelessness in the same area as the station, 36% of respondents said “yes”. In a related question that asks if people most often experience homelessness in the same area as the station, more than two-thirds confirmed.
In addition to the bi-annual count & survey, HOME deploys swing shift outreach teams who visit EOL hotspot stations (stations with higher numbers of PEH) between the hours of 6 pm and 3 am. During these deployments, the teams collect data on the number of PEH exiting the terminating trains, consistent with the data captured in the bi-annual EOL count & survey. Since this data is captured daily and is therefore more representative of EOL stations' activity, it is important to provide it here (and in subsequent reports) for comparison. Figure 5 in Attachment A shows the nightly average number (system nightly average across all EOL hotspot stations is 17) of PEH exiting EOL hotspot stations from July 1, 2025, to September 30, 2025.
2025 Point In Time Homeless Count Results
Each year, LAHSA coordinates a countywide point in time count of people experiencing homelessness. In conjunction with LAHSA, Metro performs its own count of the rail and busway system stations, parking lots, and platforms. Volunteers deploy across the system on a single night, counting all rail and busway stations with the same mobile application used by LASHA. While vehicles are not included in the count due to data collection challenges, the results are collected via the application by LAHSA, which produces a report for Metro.
The countywide 2025 annual point-in-time count shows a modest decline in the number of people experiencing homelessness, equating to a total reduction of 4% over the past two years. The report also shows a significant reduction in unsheltered homelessness, down 14% over the same timeframe. The 2025 Metro count shows between 631 and 684 people experiencing homelessness on the system - a reduction of nearly 40% from the previous year’s range of 1,041 - 1,092.
In addition to the Metro PIT results showing a significant reduction of PEH, the Metro Customer Experience Department’s Pulse Survey reports a statistically significant improvement in customer satisfaction with how Metro addresses homelessness on the rail system. The Pulse Survey is conducted quarterly, asking customers a variety of questions and generating feedback that helps drive system initiatives and interventions. Survey results from August 2023 to July 2025 on the question “How well does Metro address homelessness?” show an increase from 37% to 40%, respectively.
For the last several years, Metro has been working with LAHSA to incorporate transit homelessness into the countywide report. The current report provides data on vehicular homelessness, which are inclusive of stationary vehicles like parked cars and RVs. An active public transit system with moving trains and buses presents challenges for the existing counting methodology, which is designed to capture data on stationary individuals, makeshift shelters and vehicles. In the coming year Metro and LAHSA aim to make progress toward the goal by collaborating on geo-mapping Metro’s rail and busway stations.
Social Work Internship Program
Metro’s internship program focuses on supporting various schools of social work by providing students with field placements alongside our contracted homeless outreach agencies. The program began with a single MSW intern last year, expanding to five interns in August 2025. This year Metro received students from Azusa Pacific University and Cal State Long Beach and placed them with our partners at Union Station Homeless Services, Christ-Centered Ministries, and Helpline Youth Counseling. All interns have expressed enjoying their work and feel supported through the process.
Interns have made meaningful contributions to boots-on-the-ground outreach across the transit system, while building skills in crisis intervention, trauma-informed approaches, behavioral health awareness, safety, and documentation standards. Several students are completing macro projects that will benefit the staff and operations of Metro’s homeless initiatives. Additional schools have expressed interest in Metro’s program; staff anticipates receiving between nine and ten interns for the next academic year.
Equity_Platform
EQUITY PLATFORM
Metro’s efforts to address homelessness on the transit system through its homeless outreach program directly benefit unhoused individuals in LA County. Using a multi-layered deployment strategy that combines several departments, Metro strategically engages the most disenfranchised members of the community. The homeless population in Los Angeles is disproportionately represented by Black and Latino individuals - an effect of historically exclusionary racist policies that impact access to affordable housing.
Teams are deployed across the entire rail and busway system, allowing them to outreach to regions with dense populations of people experiencing homelessness. By connecting more than 8,567 individuals to housing resources since 2018, Metro has improved equitable access to housing for many disenfranchised members of the community. Connecting people with housing resources, mental health services, and other essential interventions positively impacts the overall goal of reducing homelessness across Los Angeles and demonstrates Metro’s commitment to providing access to opportunities for disenfranchised populations.
Vehicle_Miles_Traveled_Outcome
VEHICLE MILES TRAVELED OUTCOME
VMT and VMT per capita in Los Angeles County are lower than national averages, the lowest in the SCAG region, and on the lower end of VMT per capita statewide, with these declining VMT trends due in part to Metro’s significant investment in rail and bus transit.* Metro’s Board-adopted VMT reduction targets align with California’s statewide climate goals, including achieving carbon neutrality by 2045. To ensure continued progress, all Board items are assessed for their potential impact on VMT.
As part of these ongoing efforts, this item is expected to contribute to further reductions in VMT. While this item does not directly encourage taking transit, sharing a ride, or using active transportation, it is a vital part of Metro operations, as it provides support for people who seek shelter on Metro. Because the Metro Board has adopted an agency-wide VMT Reduction Target, and this item supports the overall function of the agency, this item is consistent with the goals of reducing VMT.
*Based on population Estimates from the United States Census and VMT estimates from Caltrans’ Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS) data between 2001-2019.
Next_Steps
NEXT STEPS
Staff will continue to report quarterly on homeless outreach activity, outcomes and strategic initiatives that address the presence of people experiencing homelessness on Metro’s system.
Attachments
Attachment
Attachment A - Additional Data referenced in the board report
Prepared_by
Prepared by: Craig Joyce, Deputy Executive Officer Homeless Outreach & Strategic Initiatives, (213) 418-3008
Reviewed_By
Reviewed by: Nicole Englund, Chief of Staff, (213) 922-7950
