REPORT: NUMBER OF HOMELESS COUNTYWIDE RISES 12%

Riverside County’s homeless population increased 12 percent last year, with the number of unsheltered people accounting for the higher total — prompting a member of the Board of Supervisors to say the county needs to “work harder” to find solutions.

“The next step is thinking outside the box, digging deep and wide in finding resources,” Supervisor Karen Spiegel said on May 9 after receiving a report on the latest figures. “These numbers tell a story. We have to work as a full county, not just in our districts, with this element. We have to work harder on that.”

The county Department of Housing & Workforce Solutions presented its findings from the 2023 Point-In-Time homeless survey, conducted at the end of January, and the results estimated the countywide homeless population to be 3,725, compared to 3,316 recorded during the 2022 count.

The number of chronically homeless people who are unsheltered — those residing in places not meant for human habitation, such as cars, on sidewalks, parks and abandoned buildings — was 2,441, a 23 percent increase year over year.

Meanwhile, the number of sheltered homeless people — those in emergency shelters, transitional housing and safe havens — was 1,284, according to the PIT report, a 4 percent drop year over year.

According to HWS Director Heidi Marshall, there was a 21 percent increase in the number of people surveyed who were experiencing first-time homelessness. Other worrisome signs include a 12 percent increase in the number of homeless people with children, and a 31 percent increase in the number of homeless military veterans, Marshall said.

“Increases in homelessness can be attributed to multiple economic and social factors, such as poverty, lack of affordable housing, increasing rental costs and low vacancy rates, community and family breakdown and physical and mental health challenges,” according to the PIT report.

“Of the unsheltered individuals surveyed, 27% reported family disruption as the primary factor for their homelessness, lack of income fell second at 19%, and unemployment followed at 12%,” the report found.

The lack of affordable living space remains on the front burner of most homeless assistance programs in the county and state.

“Affordable housing is a critical tool used to ensure rents remain affordable for individuals and families,” HWS said. “According to the 2022 Riverside County Housing Need Report, renters in Riverside County need to earn $34.44 per hour — 2.3 times the state minimum wage — to afford the average monthly asking rent of $1,791.”

The PIT report noted that demand for utilization of homeless assistance programs continues to mount. The county’s Continuum of Care Homeless Delivery System, which combines government resources with those of private and nonprofit entities, provided aid to 14,388 individuals between June 2022 and April 2023.

In the most recent homeless census, the county marshaled the biggest number of volunteers on record — over 1,000 — to conduct the count over a three-day period. People from faith-based groups, churches, civic affairs organizations, along with college students and county employees, were involved.

They engaged people living in cars, abandoned buildings, under bridges, in transient encampments, homeless shelters and other places throughout the county.

Data are used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine how to distribute federal homeless relief funding.