San Francisco is no longer the US homelessness capital: another California city has taken this title - ForumDaily
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San Francisco is no longer the homelessness capital of the United States: another California city took this title

Everyone knows about the homelessness crisis in San Francisco. But according to published data, the city of Sacramento has more homeless people - and their proportion is higher, compared to its population, than in San Francisco, reports SFChronicle.

Photo: Shutterstock

A new report on homelessness in Sacramento has estimated that just over 5000 people are now homeless - those living in cars and tents - compared to about 4400 people in San Francisco. But with a population of 525 in Sacramento versus 000 in San Francisco, that's 874 per 000 in Sacramento versus 952 per 100 in San Francisco. The total number of homeless people in the city of Sacramento is not available.

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But comparing San Francisco to Sacramento County, which includes the city of Sacramento, surrounding suburbs, and unincorporated areas, also highlights just how hard the interior is grappling with the homelessness crisis.

In Sacramento County, the overall homelessness rate, including people who are sheltered and homeless, increased by 67% from 2019 to approximately 9 people in 278. In San Francisco, those numbers fell 2022% to 3,5. Sacramento County has a population of 7754 million, more than San Francisco.

Sacramento County is not the only county in Northern California to overtake San Francisco in homelessness. Alameda County, which saw a 22% increase in homelessness to 9 out of 747 million, also outpaced San Francisco. But Sacramento has long been considered a more affordable place than the Bay Area, and without the same acute levels of homelessness.

Sacramento County officials have tried to address the issue by increasing shelter capacity, placing more people in permanent supportive housing, and allocating more money to combat homelessness, but these efforts have failed to keep up with the pace of homelessness.

Experts and the head of the homeless coordination organization in Sacramento attributed the increase in homelessness to rising rents, which added to an already severe shortage of affordable housing. By comparison, officials said San Francisco, which has struggled with the problem for longer, has been successful in downsizing thanks in part to uniquely allocated local funding for new housing.

“Sacramento is experiencing crazy housing price increases and a very limited supply of affordable housing,” said Tomikia Moss, CEO of All Home, a regional homeless nonprofit. — Poverty is moving east. … It’s becoming harder and harder for Sacramento, city and county residents to stay in these communities.”

Most people surveyed in Sacramento County said they became homeless before the pandemic.

Experts say the cost of housing is a major driver of homelessness. In Sacramento County, the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment increased 30% from $1005 in January 2019 to $1302 in January 2022.

The opposite happened in San Francisco, where the median rent for a one-room apartment fell 16% over the same period, from $2642 to $2225.

Lisa Bates, CEO of Sacramento Steps Forward, a leading organization that coordinates services for the homeless between nonprofits, the City and County of Sacramento, said the more accessible area has appealed to Bay Area remote workers during the pandemic, which has increased the cost of housing and reduced the already lack of affordable housing. The report says that Sacramento County needs 78 more affordable apartments to meet the needs of low-income households.

In Sacramento County, the number of individuals reporting disability and/or chronically homeless has more than doubled since 2019. The number of homeless families and veterans has decreased.

The crisis has worsened for many, despite the investments made to overcome it. Over the past three years, Sacramento County has helped more than 9000 people secure permanent housing and increased shelter capacity by 57%, according to the Bates Group. This kept the percentage of people living homeless, in tents or cars, at about 70% of the homeless population, although the total number of people was growing.

San Francisco has made more progress. Although more than half of all the homeless in the city were homeless, that number was about 15% lower than in 2019.

The city attributed the drop to "a significant increase in housing and shelter resources," including a 24% increase in available shelter beds. During the pandemic, San Francisco quickly set up tent and vehicle sheds and moved about 3800 people to hotel rooms.

Moss said one reason for San Francisco's success is the steady stream of funding for the homeless from the voter-approved Prop tax measure. The city allocated about $155 million of these funds. Most counties don't have that kind of dedicated local funding, and that puts the city "ahead in terms of resource allocation for solutions that we know work," she said.

All of these measures helped boost the homeless department's budget to $1,1 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30. San Francisco has already used some of the money received under Prop. C, to expand the orphanage with 1000 beds and purchase two hotels for permanent residence.

Moss also said a San Francisco law that gives tenants facing eviction the right to a lawyer has helped prevent people from becoming homeless. She cited a report from the Eviction Defense Collaborative that said 59% of the people represented were able to stay in their homes last year.

Sacramento County has used some of the same interventions, but with fewer resources. The county's budget for homeless assistance last fiscal year was $181 million, including an influx of $50 million from federal relief funds. According to Bates, the city spends about $33 million a year on this.

Bates and Moss said several solutions are needed to overcome the crisis in Sacramento: emergency rental assistance to keep people from becoming homeless, shelters to get them off the streets, and permanent housing to end homelessness.

Like San Francisco, Sacramento has used federal and state programs to purchase hotels for permanent assisted housing, and work is underway to expand these measures. Sacramento has taken note of San Francisco's fast work to create alternative outdoor shelters, but is still lagging behind in the process, Bates said. The city of Sacramento has been working on a comprehensive plan for six months on where to place shelters or residences, and this week is starting to open some, and the county is doing the same.

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The County recently adopted a local action plan for the homeless and stepped up its work with landlords to encourage landlords to rent to people with housing vouchers. The homeless coordinating agency is investing more than $12 million to build a better system to connect people to services.

“We need more resources,” Bates said, “but we need to make sure we organize and use them in the most efficient way.”

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