Hundreds of volunteers will take to San Diego County's streets Thursday morning as the region prepares for its annual Point-In- Time Count, a yearly census of the county's homeless population.
Last year's count, featuring 1,700 volunteers spread across the county under the purview of the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, found no less than 10,605 people, which included 6,110 unsheltered and 4,495 people in shelters and transitional housing.
Those numbers — while nominally less than in 2023 — did include an 18% increase in unsheltered people.
In 2023, the number jumped up around 20% from the previous year.
"It's an imperfect tool," said Tamera Kohler, CEO of the RTFH. "In addition to data, what it really does is help us better understand this crisis and the needs that exist on our streets."
In a change this year, there will be no kickoff event in downtown San Diego at the Civic Center Plaza. Whether as a measure of austerity during lean economic times or for another reason is unclear.
According to Father Joe's Villages, the region's largest homelessness services provider, there are significant legislative and logistical obstacles to "solving" the homelessness crisis in the region.
"Shelter and affordable housing options have simply been unable to get enough people off the streets," a statement from Father Joe's read. "Barriers like a lack of access to health care or detox services keep hundreds of people from being able to take the steps necessary to get the help they need.
"Counts like these allow providers and policymakers to identify exactly where the need for services and outreach is most keenly felt and allocate resources accordingly. The Point-in-Time count also serves as a way to understand the circumstances that may force someone to experience homelessness in the first place, allowing service providers to understand how to divert or prevent people from becoming homeless at all."
According to last year's count, the number of homeless people increased by around 200 in each region of the county. The numbers also reflect a 44% increase in people living in their cars and a decrease in shelter or other temporary housing options.
Volunteers ask demographic questions of people they find experiencing homelessness. In 2024's report, they began the reporting of Hispanic ethnicity along with race for the first time.
According to the report's data, seniors experiencing homelessness saw less than a 1% decrease, while those found at Caltrans sites declined by 10%. A total of 81% of all those counted in the region said they first experienced homelessness in San Diego County.
The 2024 count reported the number of San Diego County residents experiencing homelessness who are age 55 and older trended up to 30% of those counted, up from 29% in 2023 and 25% in 2022.
Monthly reports created by the RTFH show the region has just recently broken a streak since March 2022 when more individuals exited homelessness than experienced homelessness for the first time. In October and November, more people left homelessness than entered it.
The count is federally required and the data are used by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to determine how to distribute federal homeless relief funding.
