SAN DIEGO HAS NATION'S 4TH HIGHEST HOMELESS POPULATION
By Miriam Raftery
Photos: U.S. Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
November 29, 2015 (San Diego) - The San Diego City and County region now has the fourth largest homeless population in the United States – and almost half (48%) are sleeping on the streets, or camping along riverbeds or other outdoor places with no shelter from the elements. Only New York City, Los Angeles, and Seattle have more homeless people than our county.
Those are the findings of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Homeless Assessment Report, which found San Diego’s homeless population rose 2.8% over the past year to a total of 8,742 homeless people here in 2015.
That’s far worse than the national average. Nationwide, over a half million people were homeless of January, when the annual count is done, but 69% of the nation’s homeless were in shelters.
California has 115, 738 homeless people --21% of the nation’s homeless population. While that’s dropped some in recent years, our state has the highest rate of unsheltered homeless people in the nation at 64%. With an El Nino forecast to bring one of the harshest winters in recent memory, that means many are at risk living outdoors in wet, cold weather with potential flooding adding to their miseries.
Nationally, some progress has been made. Across the U.S., homelessness dropped 2% last year and 11% since 2007. The percentage of those who are chronically homeless, as opposed to temporarily, has fallen 31% from 2010 to 2015 nationally and homelessness among veterans has fallen 36%, thanks to more supportive programs to help them.
But in California, 62% of homeless veterans have no shelter- the second worst rate in the nation, after Montana. Still, the overall number of homeless vets in California has dropped sharply—over 37% since 2009. San Diego has 1,381 homeless veterans as of the January survey.
Over a third—36%--of the homeless nationwide are families with children and 23% of all homeless people are children under age 18. In San Diego, 625 of the homeless are unaccompanied minors.
San Diego also has the nation’s fifth most chronically homeless individuals, over 1,500 of them.
San Diego’s high cost of housing and high cost of living for everything from utility bills to gasoline are key factors in the region’s high homelessness rate.
The San Diego Housing Commission has launched some programs to reduce homelessness locally, including affordable housing and federal housing vouchers for those suffering economic displacement. Other programs offer treatment for drug abuse and mental illness, conditions that contribute to homelessness.
But as the numbers in this year’s survey show, our region still has a long way to go to meet the needs of homeless people across our region.