[ Most unhoused people are from in state and desire to find
housing, while Black and older people are disproportionately affected]
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WHO’S UNHOUSED IN CALIFORNIA? LARGEST STUDY IN DECADES UPENDS MYTHS
 
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Sam Levin
June 20, 2023
The Guardian
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_ Most unhoused people are from in state and desire to find housing,
while Black and older people are disproportionately affected _

Homeless encampment in Los Angeles, Richard Vogel/Associated Press

 

Nearly half of all unhoused adults in California
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50, with Black residents dramatically overrepresented, according to
the largest study of the state’s homeless population in decades.

University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) research released
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Tuesday also revealed that 90% of the population lost their housing in
California, with 75% of them now living in the same county where they
were last housed. The study further found that nearly nine out of 10
people reported that the cost of housing was the main barrier to
leaving homelessness.

The research from UCSF’s Benioff Homelessness
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Initiative, based on a representative survey of nearly 3,200 unhoused
people, contradicts several persistent myths about the population,
including that most unhoused people come from out of state to take
advantage of services, as well as stereotypes that homeless people are
mostly young adults who prefer to live outside and don’t want help.

“People are homeless because their rent is too high. And their
options are too few. And they have no cushion,” Dr Margot Kushel,
initiative director and lead investigator, told the Associated Press.
“And it really makes you wonder how different things would look if
we could solve that underlying problem.”

California is home to more than 171,000 people experiencing
homelessness, comprising 30% of the homeless population in the US and
half of all Americans who are unsheltered and living outside. The
crisis has become a public health catastrophe
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recent years as an aging population is forced to live in tents, cars
and other makeshift shelters, with thousands
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the streets
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year. California is considered the most unaffordable state for
housing, where minimum-wage earners would have to work nearly 90
hours a week
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afford a one-bedroom apartment.

The study further found that among the older population, 41% said they
experienced their first episode of homelessness after age 50. Most
participants in the research reported that the cost of living had
become unsustainable before they lost housing, reporting a monthly
median household income of $960 in the six months prior to
homelessness.

Nearly half of adults surveyed were not living on a lease in the six
months prior to facing homelessness, meaning they were couch-surfing
or had moved in with family and friends in precarious situations.
Renters with leases reported a median of only 10 days’ notice that
they were going to lose their housing, while people without leases
reported a median of only one day of warning.

Researchers reported that participants had endured significant trauma,
with two-thirds reporting mental health symptoms, more than a third
experiencing physical or sexual violence during homelessness, and more
than a third visiting an emergency department in the past six months.
Access to care and treatment was also a major challenge cited, with
one in five who use substances reporting that they wanted treatment
but couldn’t obtain it.

The study found that while Black residents make up 6% of
California’s general population, they account for 26% of the
unhoused population. Native American and Indigenous people were also
overrepresented, accounting for 12% of the unhoused population.
Latinos made up 35% of the unhoused population, fairly comparable to
their proportion of the general population.

The study was done at the request of California governor Gavin
Newsom’s administration, but was not funded by the state.

The researchers recommended that the state increase access to housing
that is affordable to extremely low-income people, including by
expanding rental subsidies; expand homelessness prevention through
financial support and legal assistance, including for people leaving
jails, prisons and drug treatment; expand eviction protections;
increase access to treatment; and increase outreach and services for
people living on the streets.

Claudine Sipili, a member of the research project’s lived expertise
board, said in a statement that she hopes the research will help the
state develop effective strategies that allow people to transition out
of homelessness and into stable housing circumstances: “Having
experienced homelessness first-hand, I vividly recall the relentless
fight for survival, the pervasive shame that haunted me, and my
unsuccessful endeavors to overcome homelessness on my own.”

_Sam Levin is a correspondent for Guardian US, based in Los
Angeles. Click here
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Sam's public key. Twitter @SamTLevin
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_The Associated Press contributed reporting_

 

* homelessness
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* poverty
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* Inequality
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* Gov. Gavin Newsom
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* Housing
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