Homeless population growing
EL CENTRO — The 2018 Point-in-Time-Count has revealed both troubling and positive trends that characterize the Valley’s homeless population in comparison to a year ago.
Chief among those trends is the fact that the county’s overall homeless population has grown by about 29 percent, from 1,154 in early 2017 to 1,493 as of January, when the survey was conducted.
While poverty is often cited as one of homelessness’ major contributors, the Valley’s relative lack of resources, low median income level and overall size and widely-dispersed populations also create what one official described as a “perfect storm.”
“Those things coming together mean the problem can go unaddressed for a long time,” said Tony Phillips, a consultant contracted by the Imperial Valley Continuum of Care Council to help with its PITC report.
The report, released to the public Thursday, also indicated that the Valley’s homeless population has seen sharp increases in the number of unsheltered youth and veterans, the latter which grew by 505 percent from 21 to 127 over the past year.
As troubling as some of the report’s findings were, a sense of optimism was evident among the stakeholders gathered for its release.
That optimism stemmed from the county Department of Social Services in May being named the lead agency for the IVCCC’s coordinated homeless intervention and prevention efforts going forward.
The department’s assumption of those efforts is expected to act as a force multiplier and help ensure that IVCCC rapidly adopts policies and practices that meet the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s objectives and requirements.
“We expect some collaborative applications to come out of this group that will vastly exceed the resources we received in years past,” Phillips said.
An accurate count of the county’s homeless population is essential to ensuring the Valley receives a corresponding amount of federal and state funding to help address homelessness. Last year, the county received about 29 percent of its potential HUD funding, leaving about $424,000 on the table, the report stated.
The county becomes the 19th in the state to assume the role of lead agency for its respective Continuum of Care program.
“Other counties that have already done this have been making very positive steps forward primarily in being able to get more resources,” said Mickey Castro, county Department of Social Services deputy director.
The 2018 report also highlighted areas in need of improvement, namely stakeholders’ implementation of the Homeless Management Information System, a database that lists homeless individuals and tracks which local resources they have used.
For the past couple years, Catholic Charities, which had previously acted as the lead agency for the IVCCC, has been attempting to entice local agencies and non-profits to adopt the HMIS. Currently, seven local entities have adopted the software, while an eighth is pending.
“Ideally, we would love to have every agency that has a hand in homelessness and prevention all enrolled,” said Victor Estrada, IVCCC vice chair and Brawley’s Gateway Church director of worship and missions.
By fully implementing the HMIS database, as well as a mandated coordinated entry system that inventories available resources for homeless individuals, the county could improve its chances of securing additional funds.
“If we don’t have these systems in place we lose points on our HUD grant applications,” Estrada said.
Some positive trends cited in the report include a decrease in the number of homeless individuals who had reported being released from incarceration in the 12 months prior.
The report also highlighted a 58 percent drop in the number of individuals who met the federal designation of “chronically homeless,” defined as those who have encountered long-term or repeated episodes of homelessness.
Bombay Beach was surveyed for the first time this year, resulting in 136 unsheltered individuals being counted. Slightly more than half of the total homeless counted this year also resided in Slab City.
A new surveying method in Brawley is being credited with its homeless population climbing from eight last year to 106.
Already, city officials are working with its partners in the public and private sector to help address the homelessness issue, said Brawley Police Department Cmdr. Brett Houser.
The city of Calexico, according to the report, had seen a drop from 173 to 89 total homeless individuals over the past year.
Yet, that figure was disputed on Thursday by Maribel Padilla, co-founder of the Calexico Brown Bag Coalition, a homeless advocacy group.
The coalition provides meals on a daily basis to the area’s homeless population and has seen larger sized crowds turn up this year, Padilla said.
The city’s lower count, she said, was likely the result of surveyors having conducted their count at a time when some of the area’s homeless, who are also employed as seasonal farm workers, were working.
“The report says that the numbers are decreasing, but it’s just that they didn’t get counted,” Padilla said.