USA - About 13,000 people on public assistance tumble into homelessness every month in Los Angeles County, according to a new study that experts say provides the clearest picture yet of extreme poverty in the region. Although many quickly find work or rely on family to get off the streets, the number experiencing "continuous, unremitting, chronic homelessness" continues to grow, even after 10,000 people were housed over the last three years, according to the report being released Tuesday by the Economic Roundtable, a nonprofit research group in Los Angeles.

The report recommended that the welfare system intervene to help children and young adults who become homeless before their condition becomes chronic.