EAST COUNTY HOMELESSNESS INCREASES 7%--AND NEARLY ALL ARE UNSHELTERED

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By Miriam Raftery

April 23, 2017 (San Diego) -- The annual count of San Diego County’s homeless population found 9,116 people living on the streets or in shelters, a 5 percent increase from last year countywide. Results were released Thursday from the Point-in-Time Count held in the early morning hours of January 27th. The effort is organized by the Regional Task Force on the Homeless.

In East County, the count found 685 homeless people, of whom nearly all- 620—were unsheltered. That’s a 7% increase in homelessness here in East County over the past year.

Among East County communities, El Cajon had by far the highest number of homeless people, 388 and only 65 of them were in any sort of shelter.  Among the other incorporated cities in East County, Santee had 49 homeless people, Lemon Grove 36, and La Mesa 25.  All of the homeless in these cities are living without shelter.

Homelessness is also high in some unincorporated communities. Overall, the unincorporated areas of the county have 326 homeless people—and 320 of them were living without shelter.  Lakeside had 77 homeless people, Ramona 65, Spring Valley 61, Casa de Oro 30, and Alpine 19. 

Some areas where a count was done found no homeless people, including the Jamul/Dulzura and Crest-Dehesa communities. 

The annual count helps determine the number and location of homeless people in the San Diego region and is critical in securing about $18 million in federal funding for needed housing and services.

One area of improvement for our region is that the number of homeless veterans decreased by 16.2% over the past year. 

A particularly troublesome finding was that homelessness among youths has risen to 1,150, of whom over a thousand are young people ages 18 to 24, with a 54% spike in the number of homeless youths who are unsheltered in San Diego County.

The researchers asked homeless people locally to name the primary reason why they are homeless.  A quarter of them, or 25%, said loss of a job was the main cause of their homelessness. Another quarter listed other causes not specified. But 15% listed money issues, 10% had run away or been thrown out of their home, 7% named loss of a family member, another 7% cited disability, and around the same number cited abuse or domestic violence.  A small fraction listed recent release from prison (3%)and 1% had aged out of foster care.

The findings show that the causes of homelessness are varied, as the San Diego region continues to grapple with its growing homeless population amid rising housing prices that have made San Diego one of the most unaffordable places to live in the nation. 

Additional figures from the Point-in-Time Count can be found on the Regional Task Force on the Homeless website.


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