By Lookout Staff

December 16, 2010 -- Santa Monica is seeking volunteers to help count the number of homeless in the beachside city as part of the nation’s largest census of people living on the streets of LA County.

Part of the countywide census by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), teams of two or more “enumerators” will count homeless individuals and families living on the streets and other outdoor locations on the night of January 26 from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m.

Additionally there will be a count of people in shelters, in motels that accept vouchers and in institutions such as hospitals, jails, and in alcohol and drug residential treatment centers, LAHSA officials said.

Following the count, a representative sample of homeless residents will be surveyed throughout the County to gather more in-depth information, which will be used as the benchmark for planning and funding programs.

More than 200 people -- including 160 volunteers -- turned out for the count conducted in January of this year.

The volunteers counted 742 homeless people on January 29 from 12 a.m. to 3 a.m. This includes 264 living on the streets; 423 in institutions such as shelters, hospitals, jails and hotels and another 53 located in cars, vans, RVs or encampments.

It was the second consecutive drop in the number of homeless counted in a beachside city once dubbed "the home of the homeless."

Final results of the count will be published in a report later this year.

To volunteer visit http://www.smgov.net/homelesscountvolunteer.aspx