In abstract
Homelessness grew simply 3% in California final 12 months, in comparison with 18% nationwide.
California’s homeless inhabitants stays the most important within the nation, however the disaster is rising extra slowly right here than in many of the remainder of the nation, in line with new federal knowledge.
The variety of homeless Californians elevated simply over 3% final 12 months in comparison with the 12 months earlier than, with greater than 187,000 folks sleeping on the road or in shelters within the state as of January 2024. Total, the nation noticed a rise of barely greater than 18%, and 22 states noticed double-digit will increase. Simply six states, together with Wyoming, Tennessee and Maine, noticed their homeless populations lower.
That’s in line with the U.S. Division of Housing and City Improvement, which just lately launched the outcomes of the most recent federally mandated homeless point-in-time rely. The rely, which occurred in early 2024, relied on volunteers, outreach staff and metropolis and county workers bodily counting the homeless folks they noticed sleeping outdoors on one evening.
It’s not a totally correct method – every county conducts the rely otherwise, some estimate a few of their figures, and they’re positive to overlook unhoused individuals who sleep hidden in laborious to succeed in areas or at a pal’s home. Most California counties rely folks in shelters yearly, however rely folks on the road each different 12 months, making year-to-year comparisons troublesome. However regardless of the challenges with the info, officers use the point-in-time rely to allocate federal and state {dollars}, and to assist information homeless coverage.
A CalMatters evaluation of point-in-time rely knowledge in September, when a handful of California counties hadn’t launched their outcomes, discovered almost 186,000 unhoused folks residing within the state.
The federal knowledge exhibits the outsized function California performs within the nation’s homelessness disaster. Almost 1 / 4 of all unhoused People reside in California – in addition to 28% of all homeless veterans and 44% of all “chronically homeless” People (individuals who have a incapacity and have been homeless for a big time period.)
Two-thirds of California’s homeless residents sleep outdoors – the very best share within the nation – highlighting the state’s want for extra shelter.
However there have been some vivid spots within the report: The variety of younger Californians who had been homeless and not using a father or mother or guardian fell 11% final 12 months, and the variety of homeless veterans and chronically homeless folks additionally dropped.
Whereas the variety of folks in households with youngsters who had been homeless throughout the nation elevated almost 40% final 12 months – a regarding spike that federal officers attribute to an inflow of migrants – it remained principally flat in California.
Gov. Gavin Newsom highlighted the areas the place California bucked nationwide developments as proof that his homelessness agenda is working.
“Homelessness continues to rise and increase at ever-higher numbers nationwide, but we are seeing signs of progress in California,” he stated in a assertion. “We have turned the tide on a decades-long increase in homelessness – but we have more work to do. California‘s plan is ambitious and challenging but the data is proving that it is not impossible: our strategies are making a positive difference.”
