Why are local gov'ts ignoring cost-effective solutions to homelessness increase?
Despite hundreds of millions of dubious spends, the homelessness picture in San Jose and Santa Clara County remains grim. The latest point-in-time count reveals that the majority of our homeless remain unsheltered, even as the overall homeless count continues to rise. Meanwhile, solutions such as high-capacity shelters (which many cities have used to achieve functional zero on homelessness) get short shrift from our elected reps. SJ Spotlight provides details.
Silicon Valley’s largest city has 6,503 homeless residents, up 237 people from a 2023 point-in-time count, according to data shared by San Jose. About 60% is unsheltered, or 3,959 people, and 2,544 are sheltered. The city’s homeless population peaked in 2022 at 6,650 people, when it had the fourth highest homeless population per capita in the U.S. At that time, only 1,675 people were sheltered and nearly 5,000 were unsheltered.
However, homelessness in Santa Clara County is higher than ever. There are 10,711 homeless people per preliminary data from a point-in-time count conducted in January — more than 800 people from two years prior. The county has yet to publicly release all data specific to local cities and municipalities.
The increase has happened despite significant investments in temporary and permanent housing, with more than 1,300 affordable apartments built over the past two years, funded through Measure A, a $950 million affordable housing bond approved by voters in 2016. The county has more people sheltered than ever before at 3,239, leaving 7,472 people unsheltered.
{Editors' note: SJ Inside reports that SJ's unsheltered homeless population still constitutes a majority--around 60%-of the homelessness count in the city. }
Read the whole SJ Spotlight story here.
Read the whole SJ Inside story here.
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