SJ's homeless count continues to rise, highlighting failure of city's strategy
Two years and hundreds of million dollars later, SJ City (and Santa Clara County) still haven't reduced the number of homeless people suffering among us, according to the most recent formal tally. Concurrently, other Bay Area cities are seeing decreases, and other CA cities have even reached homelessness "functional zero." In business, this would cause an emergency strategic re-evaluation. The Merc has the grim details (excerpts).
A new “point-in-time” census released Monday found that the city’s 2025 homeless population was 6,503, largely the same as 2023’s count of 6,266. That’s despite the city’s efforts to increase its emergency shelter capacity and hundreds of millions of dollars in public spending.
The count, conducted in January as required by the federal government, offers a snapshot of homelessness on a single night. It’s used to help determine federal funding and track trends in encampments, shelter usage and vehicle dwellers.
On the other side of the Bay Area, Contra Costa County reported an estimated 26% decline in its homeless population from 2024, though six in 10 homeless people there still lack a shelter bed.
Since taking office last year, Mayor Matt Mahan has spearheaded a dual approach: clearing encampments, particularly RV clusters, while ramping up investments in emergency shelters and temporary housing. The city this year allocated more than $220 million toward homelessness initiatives, including interim housing, outreach and encampment abatements.
{Editor's note: that comes to $32k/homeless person, enough to rent out a one bedroom studio in Willow Glen for a year.}
San Jose has also taken steps to allow criminal penalties against some homeless people. Earlier this year, the City Council approved a change to city code that Mahan pushed for, which allows police to cite and arrest homeless people who refuse shelter.
The policy has also been met with fierce criticism from homeless advocates.
“Our community has nowhere near enough safe options for people who are simply trying to survive,” Jennifer Loving, CEO of Destination: Home, previously told the Bay Area News Group. “Responding to homelessness with criminalized enforcement doesn’t solve this crisis and will never result in less people on the streets.”
Read the whole thing here.
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