Sonoma County homeless census finds 2 percent drop in number

Preliminary results from the 2017 Sonoma County homeless census reveal a fourth consecutive decline in the overall number of people with no permanent home, though the 2 percent drop over the last year still leaves 2,835 people living on the streets or in temporary shelter.

The shift, though slight, means the number of people experiencing homelessness has declined by more than a third over the past six years, down from a peak of 4,539 people at the time of the 2011 count.

Some of the improvement reflects continuing recovery from the recent recession, said Michael Gause, Continuum of Care and homeless programs coordinator for Sonoma County.

Officials also credited new initiatives in 2016 for reductions of 20 percent or more in the number of homeless youths, unsheltered veterans and chronically homeless individuals.

Those include the Palms Inn, a converted south Santa Rosa motel now housing 104 veterans and longtime homeless individuals, and the Dream Center opened by Social Advocates for Youth, or SAY, which served ?189 young people through the year. The number of homeless families has shrunk by ?16 percent since last year as well, likely reflecting a recently adopted, coordinated system of serving families that reduces the amount of shelter time and hastens acquisition of stable housing, officials said.

Still, the survey conducted Jan. 27 showed nearly six of every thousand Sonoma County residents are homeless on a given night. And while nearly 1,000 people counted in the census at least had a roof over their heads - because they were staying in emergency shelters or transitional housing - about two-thirds, or 1,847 people, were living outdoors, on the street, or in cars, encampments or abandoned buildings, according to the preliminary results.

“The total’s only gone down by 2 percent, and that’s a good incremental reduction, and it’s great to see these target populations going down,” said Mike Johnson, chief executive at Petaluma-based Committee on the Shelterless, or COTS. “But street homelessness in Sonoma County is still a huge problem.”

The county’s rate of homelessness, 56 per 10,000 people, is still more than three times the national rate of 17.7 per 10,000 last year and 18.3 per 10,000 the year before that, according to the National Alliance to End Homelessness.

The county had 532 homeless youths ages 18 to 24 and unaccompanied teens younger than 18.

“That the size of a high school graduating class,” said Katrina Thurman, SAY’s chief executive officer. “That’s a whole class outside on the street at night.”

The census preview comes amid elevated awareness of homelessness in Sonoma County, particularly highly visible populations in downtown Santa Rosa, as well as declining federal resources for emergency shelters and rehousing programs.

A change in the state’s distribution of key grant funds slashed Sonoma County’s allocation by nearly $800,000 the past two years, compared with the 2015-16 peak of about $1.2 million, county officials said.

Supervisors last year covered much of the gap with a one-time, $800,000 infusion not available this year.

Last week supervisors were unable to fund even high-priority requests such as Catholic Charities’ family shelter and the Interfaith Network’s rapid rehousing program, a combined loss of $420,000. Funds were cut as well to several other large programs, including Sam Jones Hall overnight shelter in west Santa Rosa, COTS’ Mary Isaak Center emergency and family transitional housing in Petaluma, and SAY’s rapid rehousing efforts.

Some service providers anticipate even more challenges ahead, given proposed cuts in federal funding.

“I think what could come next in our community is almost unprecedented drops in our most important safety nets,” Thurman said.

The point-in-time census is required for county agencies to be eligible for as much as $3 million in annual federal grant funds distributed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. Conducted biennially from 2009 to 2015, the count has been done annually since.

The total number of homeless grew from 3,247 in 2009 to 4,539 in 2011 before declining dramatically from 2013 to 2015 - from 4,280 to 3,107.

Current figures show 89 percent of those experiencing homelessness in January were single adults, and 11 percent families.

The available breakdown of census results did not include city-by-city numbers. But 5th District County Supervior Lynda Hopkins, who has been grappling with rising concerns about the issue in Guerneville and the lower Russian River region, said figures provided to her show a nearly 18 percent rise in that area’s homeless population, from 210 last year to 247 in January, with only 16 percent of them having shelter.

The growth in homeless residents means the lower river region now has about 9 percent of the county total, Hopkins said.

Gause said the full census report should be completed in late June.

You can reach Staff Writer Mary Callahan at 707-521-5249 or mary.callahan@pressdemocrat.com. On Twitter @MaryCallahanB.