The Homeless Chronicles. Part 6

This is the sixth in a multi-part series about homelessness. Previously we noted that

• Homelessness changes depending on your definition, from very narrow to very broad.
• There are three main groups of homeless people – (1) people who chose to be homeless, (2) people whose disabilities create/contribute to homelessness, and (3) people who experience a major negative event which propels them into homelessness.
• The life style homeless basically want to be left alone. The temporary homeless are looking for help to return them to their normal life. The chronic homeless have such disabling conditions they are the most difficult to reach and to help.
• In recent years, a greater percent of the homeless are coming from the temporary group, fueled largely by the high cost of housing in relationship to their income.
• The commonly used federal survey under –estimates the number of homeless. In reality, there are over a million homeless people nationwide, 250,000 in California and between 10,000 and 15,000 in Orange County.
• There is wide diversity among California counties in the percent of the population who are homeless. Orange County at 0.22% (22 homeless people for every 10,000 residents) is mid low range with an average of 0.39% for the State.

Today we’ll get some perspective, looking at the homeless who are unsheltered. Generally speaking it is the unsheltered homeless who come to the public’s attention.

What Percent of OC’s Homeless Are Unsheltered?

At 57.7% OC was in the low mid-range with respect to the percent of the homeless who were unsheltered. The average for the 38 counties surveyed was 65.3%. (See Graph accompanying this article) According to HUD, on 01/24/2018 in California there were 89,543 unsheltered individuals out of 129,972 statewide, representing 69%. Nationwide there were 552,830 homeless people of whom 194,467 (35%) were unsheltered.

There are no common factors identifying why one county vs. another has a higher percent of unsheltered homeless people.

Population Size

Here is a rank order of the top 10 most populous counties and their percent of unsheltered homeless –

• Los Angeles – 75%
• San Diego – 55%
• Orange – 58%
• Riverside – 73%
• San Bernardino – 74%
• Santa Clara – 82%
• Alameda – 79%
• Sacramento – 70%
• Contra Costa – 71%
• Kern – 60%

The average for the top 10 counties is 69.7% which is not very different from the overall average of 65.3%. There is no pattern.

Population Density

Nor is density a factor. Here are the top 10 most dense counties along with the percent of homeless –

• Orange – 58%
• Los Angeles – 75%
• Alameda – 79%
• Contra Costa – 71%
• Sacramento – 70%
• Santa Clara – 82%
• San Diego – 55%
• Marin – 69%
• Ventura – 75%
• Stanislaus – 57%

The average for the top 10 counties is 69.1% which is not very different from the overall average of 65.3%. There is no pattern.

Cost of Housing

Here is the list of the top 15 counties with the highest percent of the homeless who are unsheltered, along with the cost of housing as a percent of income.

• Imperial (87%) – 21.02%
• Santa Clara (82%) – 22.47%
• Solano (81%) – 24.1%
• San Luis Obispo (79%) – 23.42%
• Alameda (79%) – 21.75%
• Santa Cruz (78%) – 25.29%
• Monterey (76%) – 24.7%
• Ventura (75%)- 25.14%
• Los Angeles (75%) - 25.88%
• San Bernardino (74%) – 24.37%
• Riverside (73%) – 24.64%
• Contra Costa (71%) – 22.23%
• Sacramento (70%) – 23.28%
• Marin (68%) – 22.06%
• Sonoma (66%) – 23.98%

Once again, no pattern. Keep in mind that "experts" in this field continually say that "cost of housing" is a major factor, but the data here do not support that idea.

Summary

There is wide diversity in the percent of homeless who are unsheltered across California, ranging from 87% (Imperial County) to 39% (Butte County). There doesn’t appear to be any relationship between having unsheltered homeless and population size, density, nor cost of housing.

Next time we’ll get some statewide perspective on the homeless people who are mentally ill.

About the Author

Dr. Jim Gardner is the former Mayor of Lake Forest. A Clinical Psychologist, he is a former University Professor and Department Head. He authored several reports about homelessness.