MAKING THE HOMELESS COUNT; L.A. AGENCY WANTS 2000 CENSUS TO BETTER REFLECT TOTAL.

Byline: Rick Orlov Daily News Staff Writer

To the U.S. Census Bureau, in the year 2000 there will no longer be homeless people - only those without conventional housing.

Living in a car? Unconventional. A cardboard box? Unconventional. Two or three families in one apartment? Unconventional.

Despite the use of government-speak in describing the living conditions of the homeless, it is a serious question that troubles homeless advocates and city officials. For them, it's a multimillion-dollar question of how much state and federal money will come to Los Angeles after the 2000 census.

``The general consensus is that the 1990 census was a disaster in counting the homeless, and what that means is a significant reduction in the amount of funding that comes to Los Angeles and other cities in the county,'' said Doug Ring, a commissioner on the Los Angeles Homeless Service Authority, a city-county joint agency that deals with the homeless and with homeless issues.

Natalie Profant, planning manager for the agency, said her organization has been working with the Census Bureau to try to develop better ways to count the homeless.

``In 1990, they had the idea to go to encampments,'' Profant said. ``The idea that you identify a site and you count the people there is unrealistic, because not everyone who is homeless is going to be there.

``And they had another problem. The people they hired had to go to these spots at 2 in the morning and count people, which is very frightening.''

Since it was difficult to get workers to go into certain areas at that hour, officials were unsure if they got an accurate count, she said.

Profant also is concerned about the agency's decision not to identify the homeless as such.

``What they are doing is measuring poverty levels rather than (individuals) as homeless,'' she said, adding that she wants to see as many homeless people counted as possible.

The agency estimates there are 84,500 homeless people in Los Angeles County - about the equivalent of the population of Whittier. It is working on a demonstration project to be announced in January on other ways to list the homeless to make sure they are included in the next national head count.

Census Bureau officials say they want to cooperate.

Maria Mochulski, Census Bureau staff assistant and coordinator for the program, said the agency has been working with service providers such as shelters and soup kitchens to try to develop a comprehensive program.

``As you might expect, the homeless are a key group that tends to get missed in a census,'' Mochulski said. ``We are putting a lot of thought into our planning and hope to use the homeless themselves to help us. The key to getting a good count is to have the homeless themselves and advocacy groups get involved.''

Recently, the bureau did a pilot program in Sacramento, targeting outdoor locations, shelters and other programs used by the homeless to make a sample count.

``We are still evaluating that and hope it proves successful,'' she said.

As for the bureau not acknowledging the homeless, Mochulski said it presents a difficult question.

``It's a policy question and deals with definitions,'' she said. ``The homeless aren't just the people on the street or living in cars. It's people doubling and tripling up because they can't afford their own place, or people living in substandard housing.''

There are other forms of housing that the Census Bureau does recognize, such as those who live on boats permanently or travel the country in recreational vehicles.

``We have a separate marina unit, and we also check in at RV campgrounds,'' Mochulski said. ``This survey is not only about population, but about population and housing.''