Latest Homelessness Data Shows a Continuing Crisis

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This post originally appeared in the Dec. 16 Morning Report. Subscribe to the newsletter here.

New countywide data shows 984 people became homeless for the first time in San Diego and 625 formerly unhoused people moved into homes, according to the Regional Task Force on Homelessness.

The monthly numbers from the Regional Task Force on Homelessness, which coordinates San Diego County’s homelessness response, are the latest to show that San Diegans are falling into homelessness more quickly than they can be moved off the street.

The latest numbers show fewer San Diegans accessed homeless services for the first time in November than in the prior month – falling from 1,343 people to 984 people.

But the crisis is far from waning.

The Downtown San Diego Partnership, a downtown business group, counted a record 1,706 homeless residents staying downtown and areas just outside it on a single night last month.

And inewsource revealed in a Thursday scoop that preliminary eviction filings in San Diego Superior Court hit a five-year peak in October, a nearly 30 percent spike from September. Advocates and local leaders have sounded the alarm about how evictions kicking up following the expiration of pandemic protections are fueling the region’s homelessness crisis.

• The Union-Tribune reports that city and county officials gathered Thursday to announce the opening later this year of a 22-bed residential treatment program for homeless San Diegans grappling with addiction and mental health issues. About a year ago, the city and county teamed to open a similar 21-bed facility on Sports Arena Boulevard and officials have said they expect to open additional facilities elsewhere in the county.