A Substantial Number of Continuums of Care in California Counted Considerably More Persons Who Were Homeless in 2019 When Compared to Their 2017 Counts

–Some CoCs have not yet publicly reported their count results–
–Several CoCs counted between one-third and two-thirds more persons–
–A few CoCs counted three-fourths or more persons —

–Reported count results show a 23.7% collective increase as noted below–

The map below uses color coding to show how many California Continuums of Care (CoCs) counted more or less persons as homeless in 2019 when compared to their 2017 homeless counts. Color code is as follows:

• Red colored CoCs are those that counted more persons in 2019;
• Blue colored CoCs are those that counted less persons in 2019;
• Gray colored CoCs are those that have not yet released their 2019 homeless count results to the public.

California is divided into 43 CoCs by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). HUD requires CoCs to conduct an unsheltered and sheltered count during the last 10 days in January in odd number years as part of their funding request for Continuum of Care Program funding.

The percentage noted on the map for each CoC is taken from Table 1 below, which includes the number of persons counted as homeless in 2017 and 2019 for each CoC and lists the difference between the years in number and percent.

The map and Table 1 will be updated as more homeless count results are made public. The updates will be noted in future briefs.

Currently, the map and Table 1 show that 24 of the 43 CoCs have made their count results public.

The 24 CoCs counted 53,595 persons in 2017 and 66,305 persons in 2019, which represents an increase of 12,710 persons or 23.7%.

Table 1 lists the homeless count results for the 24 CoCs that have made the homeless count results public. Of the 24 CoCs,

• 9 or 37.5% counted between one-third and two-thirds more persons in 2019;
• 4 or 16.7% counted more than two-thirds in 2019;
• 6 or 25.0% counted less persons in 2019.

Table 1. Comparison of Homeless Count Results for 2017 and 2019

Table 2 lists the 19 CoCs that have not yet made their count results public.

Table 2. CoCs That Have Not Yet Made Their 2019 Count Results Public