Orange County’s first “point-in-time” census of the homeless since 2019 shows 16.5% fewer transients in the county since the last time a count could be done due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
While Orange County officials were pleased and credited a ramping up of homeless services since a settlement of federal litigation stemming from the clearing of an encampment in the riverbed in Anaheim, they stressed that it was a snapshot in time and that they had more to do on the issue.
“It’s a one day in time” count, Orange County CEO Frank Kim said. “One thing we want to focus on and discuss with the (county’s homeless commission) is doing the counts more frequently. Is there value to that? Most jurisdictions are doing it twice a year, which is required, but nothing stops you from doing it more frequently. Is there value to doing it more regularly? What is the value? What does it cost and what do we gain from it?”
Kim told City News Service, “I don’t think we’re patting ourselves on the back. That would be inappropriate.”
But Kim said he had confidence that the census was accurate, noting that he joined with volunteers to assist in the census in February in Anaheim.
“From my experience we did the same thing” as was done in 2019, Kim said. “They split us up in groups of three, gave us a map provided by law enforcement and local outreach organizations. After I (followed) the map I went to other areas because we had additional time to locate more homeless individuals.”
Doug Becht, the director of the Office of Care Coordination for homeless services, said officials “spent months working with outreach providers” in coordinating the search. A smartphone app helped monitor where the volunteers went to guard against under counting.
“We were able to cover the same amount of maps and same geographic area, and not only cover it, but cover it twice just as we did in 2019,” Becht said. “I feel strong standing behind the methodology and that it was not affected by COVID-19 or the surge we experienced” in February, he added.
Supervisor Andrew Do, who was instrumental in spearheading the county’s efforts to increase homeless services during the federal lawsuit while he was chairman of the Board of Supervisors, hailed the results of the census.
“The increase in the number of homeless residents being sheltered across all categories, including veterans, transitional-aged youth and seniors, is proof that the county’s regional Service Planning Areas approach works,” Do said. “It creates a workable framework for cities to collaborate to address different needs within the homeless population in the region. This was the reason I proposed the creation of the County Office of Care Coordination.”
County officials have worked to increase mental health and outreach services to the area’s transients since the settlement of the lawsuits. And new shelters have been built in Placentia, Buena Park and Santa Ana.
Orange County Board Chairman Doug Chaffee said about 70% of the area’s transients completed the survey, compared with about 60% in 2019.
“The takeaway today is good news, but that we still have some work to do,” Board Vice Chairman Don Wagner said at a news conference. “I do want to make sure we don’t lose sight of the fact that it’s good news and the result of enormously hard work. I’d like to say it’s because of the Board of Supervisors, but the reality is we have community partners, we have substantial buy-in, we have private partners, who have been working extremely hard over the years, to get us to the position where we are today. Every one of those folks can pat themselves on the back.”
Becht said the data indicate that the homeless population is aging and more disabled.
“Compared to 2019 (the homeless) are on average older and coming to us with more disabling conditions and needs,” Becht said. “We are seeing a more vulnerable population.”
The census showed there were 5,718 homeless counted with 2,419 in the north part of the county, 2,714 in the central part of the county and 585 in the south portion. Of those, 280 were veterans, 235 were 18 to 24 years old and 718 were seniors 62 and older.
The unsheltered count was 3,057, with 1,113 in the north part of the county, 1,522 in the central part and 422 in the south county. Of those, 145 were veterans, 109 were 18 to 24 and 300 were seniors.