LA's Graying Homeless Aged 62 and Up Surge by 22 Percent

The number of Los Angeles' graying homeless people, aged 62 and up, has surged by 22 percent, The Los Angeles Times reported.

That means nearly 5,000 seniors falling within this age bracket are living on the streets, with an additional 8,000 people in their mid-50s to early 60s either homeless or living in shelters.

Officials blame rising housing costs and have accused the city of being slow to respond.

"How can you reasonably expect an individual who is damn near 80 years old to survive [shelters] … unless we have specialized facilities?" said Mike Neely, a former homeless commissioner who now sits on the Los Angeles County Commission for Older Adults.

He is referring to shelters that are ill equipped for the frail and disabled.

"We're not targeting older homeless people for services," Neely said.

In response to this epidemic, Mayor Eric Garcetti launched Purposeful Aging Los Angeles to help "improve the lives of older adults and ensure a better future," according to a news release.

The campaign aims to enhance seniors' quality of life by "focusing on their needs across all city departments," an official website said.

However, Neely pointed out that the homeless service system is not linked to senior housing and programs, The Los Angeles Times noted.

City's senior project manager for homelessness strategies, Christina Miller, meanwhile argued that the city was providing assistance to older homeless people with "targeted interventions."

Aggravating the situation is that "programs for baby boomers are designed to address longstanding programs — mental health, substance abuse," said Benjamin Henwood, an assistant professor at the University of Southern California School of Social Work, according to The New York Times.

"But they are not designed to address the problems of aging, and that is a big problem for homeless treatment in the years ahead," he said.

The issue is not limited to Los Angeles.

A recent report found that nearly a third of people 51 years and older were homeless across the U.S., Vox said.

This uptick in older homeless people is altering pressing concerns unique and specific to the U.S. homeless population, Simmons College School of Social Work reported.

• Robots, Homeless Battle Over San Francisco Squatting Space
• Woman Raises More Than $13K in Charitable Donations for Homeless Man