SAN DIEGO (KGTV) - The homeless population in San Diego County has decreased over the last year, according to a San Diego task force.
Every year, the county conducts a tally of how many people are homeless on a single night in January. This year’s count, done on January 26, was coordinated by the Regional Task Force on the Homeless.
The task force says the number of homeless throughout the county has decreased six percent to 8,576. However, the number of homeless veterans went up to 1,300 - a 24 percent increase.
Supervisor Ron Roberts, the Homeless Task Force Chairman, says permanent housing still needs to be a priority.
“Seeing the overall number decline was a positive reversal, but there are far too many swings in data to declare a trend or to not see other areas where we need to increase our focus,” said San Diego County Supervisor Ron Roberts, who chairs the RTFH. “We continue to face many challenges, highlighted by a lack of new housing, a condition that squeezes hardest those with the fewest resources."
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The numbers from the federally-mandated Point-in-Time Count (PITC) show the number of sheltered and unsheltered homeless people in each of the county’s 18 cities, as well as in unincorporated areas.
The County will present the full report, with a more in-depth analysis of the data, to the task force at 3 p.m.
The PITC is meant to help communities and policymakers understand their regions’ most current challenges and areas with the most pressing need for limited funding.
