Los Angeles County homeless deaths have increased by 55 percent, mainly due to a rise in drug overdoses, a new report this month by the Los Angeles County’s Department of Health has revealed.
Drug overdoses were the biggest cause, reaching 1,488 in 2021, according to the report (pdf).
Additionally, the county found all deaths in the homeless population rose 19 percent in 2021, up from 2,671 in 2020 and 2,056 in 2019.
More than a third—or 37 percent— of all deaths among unsheltered men and women between 2020 and 2021 were caused mainly by fentanyl overdoses, making it the leading cause of death among all age groups under 60, the county reported in its yearly “Mortality Rates and Cause of Death Among People Experiencing Homelessness in Los Angeles County.”…