The nation experienced a dramatic increase in homelessness as rents soared and government assistance declined.
A small but intriguing study in Los Angeles concluded that a monthly stipend to homeless people may have helped move some of them off the street — and that they mostly spent the money on basic needs, including housing.
San Diego used state grant funding to clear out homeless encampments in downtown areas and most of the inhabitants, according to the city, were connected with housing, shelters or safe sleeping sites.
These and other recent developments underscore that economics — which include the price and availability of housing — are the linchpin in moving people out of homelessness.
That’s not to say money is everything. Much has been spent and homelessness only seems to get worse.
Leaders in the fight against homelessness may still need more resources, but they have to figure out how to use those resources more effectively.
Increasing attention on mental health, substance abuse and other behavioral issues is important. But that’s not a substitute for housing and a livable level of economic well-being.
The national report on homelessness shouldn’t come as a surprise, given it’s based on data from the annual January point-in-time counts mandated by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. Those numbers have been increasing in San Diego, as well as California and across the nation.
The report was staggering nonetheless.
The United States experienced a 12 percent increase in homelessness over the previous count. An estimated 653,000 people were homeless, the highest number since the country began using the yearly point-in-time survey in 2007, according to the Associated Press.
Along with increased rents and a low stock of affordable housing, officials noted the decline in coronavirus pandemic aid. That assistance included a child tax credit, emergency rental assistance, expanded unemployment benefits and eviction moratoriums.
Earlier, HUD officials said those resources helped avert an increase in homelessness during the pandemic.
There are also long-term trends at play. Housing assistance for the nation’s poorest tenants has fallen to the lowest level in nearly a quarter-century, according to a new study
The three main federal programs for the neediest renters — public housing, Section 8, and Housing Choice Vouchers — serve 287,000 fewer households than they did at their peak in 2004, according to the analysis by the Harvard t Center for Housing Studies that was requested by The New York Times.
“That was an eye-opener, even for me,” Chris Herbert, managing director of the center, told the Times.
This happened over decades when other safety net programs such as food stamps and Medicaid grew dramatically.
The notion that money can help people who are struggling isn’t exactly revolutionary. Research by a San Francisco-based nonprofit and the USC Suzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work suggests direct payments with no strings attached can achieve positive results.
Under their study, 100 homeless people are to receive $750 a month for a year. The results were so promising that the researchers decided to publish results after only six months, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Recipients spent 36.6 percent on food, 19.5 percent on housing, 12.7 percent on transportation, 11.5 percent on clothing and 6.2 percent on health care. That left 13.6 percent uncategorized.
Those who got the stipend were less likely to be unsheltered after six months and were able to meet more of their basic needs than a control group that got no money, and half as likely as the control group to have an episode of being unsheltered, the Times wrote.
At least one of the researchers said the study dispels the myth that people will use the money largely for “illicit purposes.”
The city of San Diego on Wednesday touted using a portion of a $2.45 million grant from the state to clear out homeless encampments near the downtown U.S. Post Office and the old central library. The city issued a lengthy news release that featured before-and-after photos of once-cluttered and then-cleared sidewalks, along with comments from Mayor Todd Gloria and Gov. Gavin Newsom.
The urban core has been a priority target for moving people out of encampments for months. The downtown homeless population hit a two-year low in November, according to data from the Downtown San Diego Partnership.
The organization counted 1,712 homeless people in the city’s urban core, just over half the number there six months ago.
It’s not clear where these people went, but Blake Nelson of The San Diego Union-Tribune reported that nonprofit groups noted an increase in homeless people seeking help or shelter.
Meanwhile, in November the number of people falling into homelessness was more than the number moving into housing for the 20th month in a row, according to the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.
The state and cities across California have been cracking down on unauthorized homeless camps. The city of San Diego approved a public camping ban in June. But rulings by the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, which has jurisdiction over the western United States, generally prohibits enforcement of such bans unless there’s adequate shelter space available.
On a parallel track with their crackdowns, San Diego and other cities have sought to expand shelters and other housing.
That 9th Circuit standard is being challenged at the Supreme Court, which could take up an appeal by Grants , Ore., over a lower court ruling against its anti-camping ordinance.
A high court decision in favor of Grants would give governments a freer hand in getting rid of encampments. More money likely would be directed toward that cause.
Still, officials almost certainly would pledge to keep providing more shelter space, not just for the sake of homeless residents but society at large.
But there no longer would be the legal hammer requiring them to do so.
What they said
Max Rexroad (@MattRexroad), California political consultant on X (formerly Twitter).
“Prediction: Trump will be on the ballot in all 50 states.”
