YOuth count glossary

Common Acronyms: 

  • LAHSA- The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority

  • USC- The University of Southern California

  • TAY- Transition Age Youth. 

  • PIT- Point in time

  • LA- Los Angeles

  • CoC- Continuum of Care

  • LACEYH- Los Angeles Coalition to End Youth Homelessness

  • CEC- Community Engagement Coordinator (LAHSA)

  • YCES RC- Youth Coordinated Entry System Regional Coordinator

Street Survey Teams- Street survey teams are teams assigned and coordinated by USC to conduct surveys in selected census tracts. Survey Teams must consist of no less than 2 people, with 1 trained surveyor. 

Deployment Sites- A centralized meeting place where street survey teams can gather to coordinate, prepare, deploy, and debrief for street surveying.  

Youth Navigators- Youth with local SPA knowledge, recruited and approved by their affiliate youth provider agency, who will assist street survey teams in identifying and engaging potential PIT eligible youth experiencing homelessness. 

Survey Site hotspot- Places where more than 5 unsheltered youth access homeless services during the day on any given day where they can be surveyed.

Focus group hotspot: Non-survey site locations where more than 3 unsheltered youth congregate together at the same time on any given day.

Historical hotspot: Non-survey site or focus group hotspot places where youth were surveyed during the 2018 Youth Count.

Non-hotspot: Any census tract not classified as one of the above hotspots are designed as non-hotspots.

Survey Site Surveyors- Approved staff who will survey in Survey Sites only.  

Blitz Days- Model in which youth homelessness provider organizations dedicate resources (i.e. staff, volunteers, transportation) to conduct as many surveys with homeless youth as possible on a given day.

Volunteers- Anyone over the age of 18 who assists with the annual Youth Count. Volunteers are primarily recruited through youth provider agencies and can assist with:

  • Street survey teams

  • Transportation

  • Data entry

  • Providing food for street survey teams and all access sites

PIT Eligibility- The Youth Count is a survey-based count of unsheltered transition-age youth (TAY), unaccompanied minors, and young families. The Department of Housing and Urban Development defines unsheltered persons as:

 “An individual or family with a primary nighttime residence that is a public or private place not designed for or ordinarily used as a regular sleeping accommodation for human beings, including a car, park, abandoned building, bus or train station, airport, or camping ground.” 

All individuals, unaccompanied minors, and young families that fulfill this definition are eligible to be included in the total youth count. 

Unaccompanied Minors- Individuals or families, where every member is under the age of 18.

TAY Families- At least one member is under the age of 25, at least one member is under the age of 18, and no member is aged 25 or older