Emergency homeless shelters that will be open around the clock in each of the eight service planning areas in L.A. County were approved by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.  Co-authored by 5th District Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the Santa Clarita Valley, and 3rd District Supervisor Lindsey Horvath, the motion calls on county staff to “identify funding and locations where these emergency shelters will be established,” according to a news release from Barger’s office.  “The vision is straightforward: keep those who are most vulnerable safe from the extreme weather that is battering Los Angeles County year-round,” Barger said in the release. “These emergency shelters will be a new tool in our county’s arsenal to unconditionally protect people experiencing homelessness. This is another step to enhance our emergency sheltering capabilities to help those in need find a safe place that offers relief.”  Each emergency shelter will need to provide a baseline of services, referenced as “core support” in the motion, which includes three meals a day, showers, bathrooms, clothes and other basic needs, the release states. Access to medical care, mental health services, substance abuse treatment, housing navigation and legal help would also be included.  Cities in the county would be asked to collaborate with the county on joint funding and identifying suitable locations, according to the release.  The SCV is part of service planning area No. 2, which stretches from Calabasas in the southwest to Glendale in the southeast, going all the way north to Lake Hughes. It includes the San Fernando Valley but does not include any of the Antelope Valley.  The 2024 point-in-time homeless count conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority showed that the homeless population in the county declined by 0.27% to 73,312, while the city of Los Angeles had a decrease of 2.2% to 45,252. The count was conducted over three days in January and saw volunteers help county staff peruse different areas of the county in an attempt to get an accurate number of homeless people in a given area at a given time.  The Santa Clarita portion of the count took place on Jan. 23.  In service planning area No. 2, there were 10,701 homeless people counted, 6,997 of them unhoused, according to LAHSA.  Santa Clarita had between 276 and 299 people counted as being homeless during the 2024 count, according to LAHSA estimates, down from last year’s number of 287 people. Of that range, between 157 and 180 had shelter. “2024 has shown us that we must constantly adapt to the changing climate to keep our communities safe during heat waves, severe rain, and everything else Mother Nature brings our way,” Horvath said in the release. “Los Angeles County is expanding its emergency resources to ensure our most vulnerable community members can access safe shelter and services during inclement weather events. With lives on the line, the new normal of extreme weather calls on us to more readily open shelters and share resources widely.”  The post County to implement around-the-clock emergency homeless shelters  appeared first on Santa Clarita Valley Signal.