Homeless more visible and more mobile
The 2017 Sonoma County Homelessness Point-in-Time count paints a more optimistic portrait of the county’s homeless population, as the overall number of homeless people is down. However, dive deeper into communities–such as Healdsburg where there are 20 percent more homeless than last year and in the unincorporated north county where the number has quadrupled–and you’ll see different statistics painting pictures of higher densities of homeless individuals with few resources available in their immediate surroundings.
In Healdsburg, the numbers are up from 90 individuals in 2016 to 111. Healdsburg Chief of Police Kevin Burke noted the numbers but didn’t have a reason for the increase.
“It’s hard to tell,” he said.
He did, however, report that some of the homeless individuals the police department interacts with say that they “tend to do very well” in Healdsburg, collecting more money and items from visitors and residents than in other areas around the county.
Like other cities in the county, the Healdsburg Police Department partners with other organizations whose missions are dedicated to helping the homeless, such as Reach for Home.
Although the homeless census report concluded “there is little doubt that the number of individuals experiencing homelessness in Sonoma County is decreasing,” it also identified some troubling aspects of the problem that are challenging public officials and service providers.
“It is worth noting that the development of the Sonoma-Marin Rail Transit (SMART) train has apparently led to an increase in homeless visibility,” the report said, referring to the displacement of encampments along the line that runs through Petaluma, Cotati, Rohnert Park and Santa Rosa to the Sonoma County airport.
It also found that shifts of homeless people among cities and unincorporated areas of the county is probably related to “local policy, law and code enforcement and other initiatives” meaning that closing down a camp in one location is likely to prompt the homeless to drift to another one.
“For example, the removal of homeless encampments can have a large impact on jurisdictional level data,” the report said.
This week, Santa Rosa officials are considering clearing out a homeless encampment of about 50 people living on a Bennett Valley hillside.
The overall number of homeless people counted in appears to have declined since a high point of 4,539 identified in the 2011 count. Currently, three-quarters of the 2,835 individuals in the 2017 count are older than 25, 67 percent of them are men and 70 percent of them are white.
Among the other major findings of the census:
- Shelters, whether permanent or seasonal, don’t address the needs of the vast majority of the homeless. The census found two-thirds of the 2,835 homeless people are “unsheltered” and that almost half live in camps or on the streets.
- Homelessness is a long-term, not a temporary, living situation for most. Almost 60 percent of all homeless counted had been in that situation for more than a year.
- There appears to be a strong correlation between being homeless and having grown up in foster care.
- About 21 percent of those counted in the census had some previous experience living in foster care. Perhaps more alarmingly, 39 percent of those in the survey of youth reported having been in foster care.
- Sonoma County is not attracting large numbers of homeless displaced from elsewhere. Almost 80 percent of homeless surveyed had a residence in Sonoma County before being displaced.
- Most homeless people say their inability to afford rent is their biggest obstacle to obtaining permanent housing. And when asked to identify the primary reason they became homeless, about 24 percent cited job loss.
- Most, about 82 percent, are receiving some form of government assistance such as Social Security payments, disability support or assistance from the Veterans Administration. But when asked why they don’t get government assistance, about 30 percent of those respondents said they don’t get it because they don’t want it.
The 2017 Sonoma County Homeless Census and Survey was conducted on Jan. 27 by about 120 trained volunteers. It was followed up by a survey administered to 687 homeless individuals who responded to specific demographic and personal questions. The “Point-in-Time” census is required by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development as part of a program in which Sonoma County receives about $3 million for homeless services.
