More than half of Santa Clara County’s unhoused population is homeless for the first time

As homelessness in Santa Clara County continues to rise the point-in-time count revealed that of those surveyed were homeless for the first time and that a majority of them became unhoused due to job loss family issues wellness problems and evictions or rent increases In June the county disclosed the preliminary results of the biennial count which unveiled a increase in people experiencing homelessness from The number of homeless individuals according to the June results jumped from to a record total But a new more detailed -page analysis exploring the findings has been disclosed and shows more people are becoming homeless rather than leaving their dire situation behind Even though we are helping more people annually move from homelessness into permanent housing every year we re still seeing more people entering homelessness than exiting on an annual basis reported KJ Kaminski the director of the county s office of supportive housing in an interview I think the point-in-time count reflects that reality that the lack of affordable housing and wage gaps are contributing to housing insecurity for thousands of our neighbors and pushing them into homelessness every day The federally mandated point-in-time census aims to count every homeless individual in the county over the program of two days in January While it s used to quantify homelessness and determine funding it represents only a snapshot in time and is not a full picture of homelessness throughout the year For the census the county changed certain of its methodology in an effort to ensure a more accurate count Kaminski noted the county tried to maximize the number of people that we are able to speak with during the count County leaders and assistants ultimately surveyed individuals Among the findings lived in Santa Clara County before becoming homeless of that group had lived in the county for a decade or longer had a disabling condition relied on Medi-Cal or Medicare and relied on food assistance programs While the change in methodology makes its harder to compare the information to years past and glean any meaningful trends the assessment notes that of those experiencing homelessness were identified sleeping in their vehicles an increase from in Among the unsheltered homeless population were living in the vehicles and were living outdoors among the elements of those living in their vehicles were in RVs which the county reported has become more prevalent in the northern part of Santa Clara County with the biggest increases seen in Mountain View Santa Clara and Palo Alto In a news release Mountain View attributed the surge of RV dwellers in the city to several factors including a settlement that required the city to designate three miles of streets where oversized vehicles can park The agreement was the product of a lawsuit sparked by the city s attempts to institute an RV ban City agents also pointed to an observed increase in vehicles from outside of Mountain View used for living including commuters who have homes elsewhere and utilize oversized vehicles to live in while working in Mountain View temporarily While RV-dwelling has long been an issue in Mountain View city agents mentioned latest agenda shifts may be making it worse The up-to-date U S Supreme Court ruling in City of Grants Pass v Johnson cleared the way for cities and states to enforce ordinances and laws prohibiting camping in populace outdoor spaces the city revealed Selected cities in the region are banning encampments and or oversized motorcycle parking on their streets Cupertino last week became the latest Bay Area city to ban RVs from parking on city streets Last year Fremont passed an RV parking ban that requires oversized vehicles to move feet every hours San Jose also has been cracking down on RV encampments installing tow-away signs in areas where oversized vehicles have congregated Anat Leonard-Wookey vice president of programs and services for the homeless services group LifeMoves disclosed in an interview that the trend mirrors what their homeless outreach workers have seen We re seeing that as folks lose their housing they re often able to retain their conveyance in that process and being in their car or van or RV is a safer option for them than being unsheltered at that time she commented I think it is a sign of the confluence of increasing cost of living but flat wages especially for more entry level jobs Three of the four cities with an uptick of RVs parking on their streets in up-to-date years also saw the biggest increases in homelessness according to the county s comparison of sheltered and unsheltered homelessness from to Cupertino saw a increase all in its unsheltered population Palo Alto saw a increase Santa Clara saw a increase and Mountain View saw a increase Palo Alto spokesperson Meghan Horrigan-Taylor mentioned that the city is pursuing a phased approach to address the impacts of oversized vehicles while coordinating regionally and providing ongoing services to unhoused residents Palo Alto has strengthened renter protections enabled safe parking programs partnered with LifeMoves on the Homekey Palo Alto interim housing project and supported affordable housing developments she commented A spokesperson for Santa Clara reported city functionaries were preparing for an upcoming analysis session on RV safe parking and working on its citywide plan to reduce homelessness and its impacts Roughly of the county s homeless population was located in four cities San Jose Gilroy Mountain View and Santa Clara For Kaminski selected of the survey evidence that reveals why individuals are becoming homeless points to the need for the county to continue investing in prevention efforts In the last fiscal year the county spent approximately million on its response to the growing homelessness problem with funding going toward prevention programs interim housing behavioral medical services and permanent supportive housing As part of the county s Neighborhood Plan to End Homelessness people have received homelessness prevention assistance people were placed into temporary housing or shelter and people obtained stable housing between January and June Of those surveyed job loss was the leading cause of homelessness followed by the breakup of a household or a family robustness issues and eviction or rent increase Only of those surveyed were employed and a majority were either looking for work or unable to work Both our permanent housing efforts and our homelessness prevention efforts are showing a tremendous amount of success getting people housed or keeping people in their housing so they don t experience homelessness in the first place Kaminski noted I think this point-in-time count reflects the need to continue to invest in those strategies that are working