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Thursday’s homeless count could confirm perceived increase of people on streets

Gov. Gavin Newsom and county Board of Supervisors Chairman Nathan Fletcher talk with a man during the 2020 homeless count.
In this photo from the January 2020 count of homeless people in San Diego, California Gov. Gavin Newsom, left, along with county Board of Supervisors Chairman Nathan Fletcher, center, talk with a man who had been sleeping outside City Hall.
(Howard Lipin/The San Diego Union-Tribune)

Countywide event will be the first since pandemic’s arrival in January 2020

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The annual count of San Diego County’s homeless population has become almost routine, but this Thursday’s event likely could have some alarming results.

The count usually is taken in predawn hours the last week of January, and results usually show slight fluctuations in the number of people living in shelters or on the street. The last count was conducted by the Regional Task Force on Homelessness in January 2020 and found almost 4,000 people living without shelter and about 3,700 people in shelters, an overall decrease of about 6 percent from the previous year.

But like almost everything else over the past two years, things aren’t as they used to be. The annual count was not taken in 2021 because of the pandemic, and a recent surge in local COVID-19 cases caused this year’s count to be delayed one month.

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During that two-year gap, more people have sought services after becoming homeless and encampments seemed to have cropped up everywhere. Rows of tents could be seen near freeways from South Bay to North County, a large encampment grew to about 100 tents on Sports Arena Boulevard and more than 1,000 people were counted living in cars, vehicles and tents just in downtown San Diego last month.

It may appear obvious that homelessness has surged during the pandemic. Or has it?

Tamera Kohler, CEO of the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, has said it’s hard to tell if there are more homeless people living without shelter or if they are just more visible because of where they are putting their tents.

Early in the pandemic, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advised against clearing encampments because displacing people could cause the coronavirus to spread. The California Department of Transportation stopped clearing encampments on state property for the same reasons, and many cities without shelter beds stopped enforcing laws against camping on public property following the 2019 court decision Martin v. Boise, which ruled that people cannot be cited for sleeping outdoors if they have no other place to go.

All of those factors could have contributed to the perception that the homeless population had increased.

Then again, it could be a reality.

A monthly count conducted by the Downtown San Diego Partnership last month found 1,406 people sleeping on the street and more than 422 tent encampments, nearly double the count from January 2021 and the highest in six years.

Last April, the Regional Task Force on Homelessness reported in its Homeless Crisis Response System report from 2020 that the number of people experiencing homelessness for the first time had increased by 79 percent. The report was based on the number of people seeking services, which had increased from 2,326 in 2019 to 4,152 in 2020.

While an eviction moratorium prevented people from losing their homes during much of the pandemic, many people likely did end up on the street. One man who was staying at a temporary homeless shelter in the San Diego Convention Center told The San Diego Union-Tribune last March that he used to work at the venue and at a local bar before he was left homeless after losing his jobs during the pandemic.

The annual count includes a survey that reveals demographic information about local homeless people, and one question in recent years has asked people where they became homeless. The survey consistently has found more than 70 percent of people said they became homeless while living in San Diego.

This year’s count might find different results, as some homeless outreach workers have said they are seeing more people who came to San Diego from Los Angeles or out of state.

While the Thursday count could reveal a possible surge in the local homeless population, there also have been several advances in addressing the issue. Former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer had said homelessness was his top priority, and Mayor Todd Gloria had made it a focus of his political career from the time he served on the City Council.

Gov. Gavin Newsom announced a $12 billion investment in homeless programs and housing last May, the city of San Diego purchased two hotels to house about 400 homeless people in late 2020, Father Joe’s Villages opened the Saint Teresa of Calcutta Villa to house 400 people earlier this month, the city and county have opened a shelter specifically for people with addiction and mental health problems late last year and more outreach teams have been created throughout the county.

Results of the annual count usually are released in about four months.

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