California

(May 2019) Preliminary reports released by Continuums in San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose showed signficant increases in the one-day estimate of homelessness in comparison to their previous 2017 counts.

San Francisco: 17% from 6,858 (2017) to 8,011 (2019)

Oakland/Alameda County: 43% from 5,629 (2017) to 8,022 (2019)

San Jose/Santa Clara County: 35% from 7,294 (2017) to 9,706 (2019)

Full reports on the breakdown of the 2019 PIT count have not yet been released. It is important to understand the differential changes among people living in shelters, living in RVs, cars, or tents and encampments. These represent different populations with the need for difference interpretations. HUD continues to lump all unsheltered persons together - which is not helpful in understanding the trends in the situation. The media also does not tend to differentiate between those living in shelters which is generally a function of shelter capacity and those not living in shelters.

Persons living in RVs should not be considered homelessness according to the NHIP. Assistance can be provided to this group, but defining them as homeless is another large stretch of the definition which makes it meaningless.

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Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino Report Significant Increases in Homeless Estimates

(April 2019) The California counties of Orange, Riverside and San Bernardino have all reported significant increases in the estimates of one-day homelessness from their 2019 counts as compared to their counts in 2018 and 2018. A common theme among counties is the implementation of mobile apps that have increased count accuracy by reducing the time recording homeless encounters allowing for increased coverage and reducing arithmatic mistakes. Preliminary data from the NHIP 2019 PIT Survey show that an increasing number of CoCs are utilizing Mobile Apps although problems still exist in reaching all geographic areas and having sufficient capacity to complete the count. Highlights from the three counts include:

ORANGE COUNTY 2019 PIT

• Orange County reported an one-day estimate of 6,860 homeless persons representing a 38% increase over the 2018 estimate of 4,955.
• Officials report adding 1,390 additional emergency shelter beds over the past two years within the county.
• The unsheltered estimate rose from 2,584 in 2017 to 3,961 in 2019.
• Officials feel the switch from an estimation procedure to a physical count using the mobile apps has produced a better estimate than in previous years.
• For more information, read the full 2019 ORANGE COUNTY Report.

RIVERSIDE COUNTY 2019 PIT

• Riverside reported a 22% increase finding a total of 2,811 homeless persons compared to 2,316 in 2018 and 2,406 in 2017.
• A record 747 volunteers assisted with the one-day count.
• Estimates of unsheltered homelessness rose from 1,685 in 2018 to 2,045 in 2019, while sheltered persons increased from 625 to 766.
• The Continuum has not released a full report detailing the numbers.

SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY 2019 PIT

• San Bernardino officials reported a 23% increase in the 2019 PIT count tallying 2,607 persons, nearly 500 more than the previous count estimate of 2,118 in 2018.
• 73% of the total, or 1,920 persons, were found living unsheltered, a jump of more than 500 over 2018.
• The City of San Bernardino has witnessed a near doubling of homelessness rising from 491 in 2017 to 890 in 2019.
• People aged 55 and older saw a 71% increase in homelessness.

The other large cities of San Francisco, Los Angeles, Oakland, Long Beach, San Diego and Santa Clara/San Jose have not publicly released any data.