California is no stranger to people without homes. The high housing costs have driven many people to temporary, outdoor, transient and remote housing. To top that off, add an ongoing pandemic, and California faces more displaced individuals and families taking residency on the streets, under overpasses, in shelters, and more unhealthy housing conditions.
What is driving Californians to the streets?
Notable Contributing Factors to Homelessness
Homelessness and homeless are keywords used all throughout our media, politics and governance. Simply stating the word does not define it. Homelessness is often labeled as the problem, when in fact, it is actually the outcome due to a multitude of contributing factors. While there are many contributing factors to homelessness, there are some bigger forces we are able to nail down as the main issues– including mental health, substance abuse (which can be an offset or connector to mental health), family financial downfall, and a global pandemic to name a few.
Mental Health
The presence of mental illnesses and disorders play a role in some of the unhoused residents’ situations.
“The mean prevalence of any current mental disorder was estimated at 76.2%. The most common diagnostic categories were alcohol use disorders, at 36.7%, and drug use disorders, at 21.7%, followed by schizophrenia spectrum disorders 12.4%” (8)
Nan Roman, President of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, compared the homeless crisis and those within the community suffering from mental illness and disabilities to a game of musical chairs. “It’s sort of a game of musical chairs… And people who have a strike against them are the least likely to get the chair.”(14) This could be a result of reluctance to enter into a housing situation where case management is required for residency, or of the simple truth that they belong to a neglected community.
“While we continue to focus so heavily on creating more housing, we should equally be investing in our mental health structure,” says David Knight, Executive Director of the California Community Action Partnership Association. He explains that a mental health reform means investments into emergency mental health facilities, outpatient and inpatient facilities, investments in scholarships and stipends for mental health students wishing to work with unhoused individuals. It also means incorporating social workers and mental health specialists into our police forces. “All these investments can be an opportunity to prevent persons needing mental health services from also being unhoused. Assisting families and people with mental health has a fine line of success, you factor in becoming unhoused, then you lower the opportunities greatly.”
While mental illnesses and disorders play a role in the housing crisis, they are not the main player in the grand scheme of things.
Economy
California has been lagging in the catch-up game when it comes to housing. Incomes are not keeping up with the cost of rent, creating a dangerous decline in the affordability of housing. “High-income folks start renting places that middle-income folks used to rent, middle-income people start renting places that low-income folks used to rent, and low-income folks are left scrambling.” According to a study conducted by USC Price Center for Social Innovation, approximately 53% of renters are considered “rent burdened”, meaning they spend more than 30% of their household income on rent and utilities each month.(6)
California saw a jump in homelessness pre-pandemic which has since worsened as households began losing income due to the statewide shutdown. “A new federal report shows California’s homeless population increased by nearly 7% early last year to an estimated 161,548, months before the pandemic and subsequent economic crisis spread across the state.”(12) While COVID-19 definitely made a negative impact on California’s established homeless issue, there is an underlying concern.
“A staggering concern is that while all goods and services decreased during the pandemic, housing cost stayed the same and even increased, in some parts. A majority of this is relying on the influx of personal funding though stimulus payments and rental assistance,” states David Knight. He concludes, “but we have to recall that we overburden the assistance process by creating additional policy and we have to have an answer for when those programs end.”
So, what are we doing about it?
What’s being done about it?
As of January 2020, California had an estimated 161,548 individuals experiencing homelessness on any given day.(5) Specifically in Sacramento, Mayor Steinberg proposed a Master Siting Plan that was established and passed in August 2021. With multiple site locations throughout the Sacramento area and it’s subdivisions, $51.5 million has been allocated to efforts to eradicate homelessness in Sacramento.
To meet this need, the Emergency Rental Assistance program, created by the US federal government, makes funding available to assist households that are unable to pay rent or utilities. Two separate programs have been established: ERA1 which provides up to $25 billion under the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, and was enacted on December 27, 2020; and ERA2, which provides up to $21.55 billion under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, and was enacted on March 11, 2021. The funds are provided directly to states, U.S. territories, local governments, and (in the case of ERA1) Indian tribes. Grantees use the funds to provide assistance to eligible households through existing or newly created rental assistance programs. California, at first, developed a policy that allowed renters 80% of their rent paid through these federal programs, requiring landlords and owners to pay the remaining 20%. The governor has since allocated funds to directly pay 100% of unpaid rent and utilities of households affected financially by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“On June 25, 2021, California Governor Newsom announced a proposal with the California legislature to extend eviction moratoriums to September 30, 2021, and to pay off all unpaid rent and utility bills for qualifying renters from April 2020 to September 30, 2021 with a $5.2 billion allocation in the State budget. The funding source for the rental assistance is the federal government. Another $2 billion in state funds will cover unpaid utility bills for qualifying Californians.”(1)
In terms of preventative action, Senator Elizabeth Warren and Congresswoman Cori Bush have co-authored and introduced Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021 “to enact an urgently needed nationwide eviction moratorium.” If this act were passed, it would give the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) permanent authority to “implement an eviction moratorium in the interests of public health”(4) after the Supreme Court rejected President Biden’s initial eviction moratorium.
It is imperative that bills like Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021 get passed to avoid diving further into the housing and public health crisis. Yet, this doesn’t end the crisis. At the end of the day, banks have loans on properties, and they expect those loans to be paid. If properties continue to go without funding, properties diminish and the drive by current landowners will be to continue to divide low income renters from that of the middle and higher class.
“The application process to get into a place is already long enough,” states Knight. “We have to create a better system for people to even begin to be housed. It’s extremely expensive to just even look at a place to live.”
How Community Action is Helping
The main purpose of Community Action is to allow communities to identify their own unique struggles and to support and empower. Through CSBG funding, our Community Action Agencies provide assistance to their community members in a variety of ways.
”Local solutions include people who need assistance, leaders among them, as well community leaders in both public and private industries,” explains Knight. “Community development must include people at all stages and places. It must include the people that live in our neighborhoods now, not those to build for later. Our Community Action Agencies lead the development in ensuring we bring everyone to table for solutions.”
At the same time, Community Action Agencies are creating long term local solutions, leading the efforts in delivering direct services to ensure the emergencies present today do not become more severe by the day. “One thing we commonly forget in planning and development is a sense of urgency,” explains David Knight. Every day we develop, is another day someone goes unhoused. California Community Action Agencies do the best juggling act of all time by balancing their time with service today while building for tomorrow.
Rent/Utility Assistance
Specifically during COVID-19 times, Community Action Agencies have been working closely with state departments to provide aid to low-income households. As individuals lost jobs and became unable to afford rent or skyrocketing utility costs, California launched the Housing is Key initiative which will cover 100% of unpaid rent and utilities.
In March of 2020, eviction moratoriums were set in place to prevent tenants from being evicted during the pandemic. This ensured that tenants would not be forced to vacate, and that landlords could not file notices to vacate. Although it has now expired, the moratorium offered temporary relief for individuals and families suffering from a loss of income. The Housing is Key initiative is open for renters and landlords to apply, offering some peace of mind to those still recovering from lost income.
Eliminate extra costs
Regardless of the pandemic, there are extra living costs that strain the average person’s budget. Money in one pocket is the same as money in the other pocket.
Resources are needed for such expenses as affordable child care, food, transportation and health care. Our Community Action agencies are built to help families access opportunities such as CalFresh, food banks, MediCal, Head Start, State Child Care and more available for eligible recipients. Community Action Agencies can assist in the application process to help save family resources for other ongoing costs of simply living.
Need Assistance?
If you or someone you know are at risk of experiencing homelessness, please reach out to your local agency for resources available to you. Find your local agency here: https://calcapa.org/find-your-local-agency/
Sources
- Sarah Mizes-Tan, J. S. (n.d.). Sacramento Mayor Releases Plans To Shelter Homeless Residents At 20 Sites. Retrieved from https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/08/05/sacramento-mayor-releases-plans-to-shelter-homeless-residents-at-20-sites/
- Elise D. Riley, P. (2021, July 14). Depression and Anxiety Among Women With Homelessness and Unstable Housing During COVID-19. Retrieved from https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/article-abstract/2781939
- Senator Warren, Rep. Cori Bush, Senators Markey, Padilla, Introduce the Keeping Renters Safe Act of 2021: U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts. (2021, September 21). Retrieved from https://www.warren.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/senator-warren-rep-cori-bush-senators-markey-padilla-introduce-the-keeping-renters-safe-act-of-2021
- California Homelessness Statistics. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.usich.gov/homelessness-statistics/ca/
- State of Homelessness in California Fact Sheet. (2020, August 13). Retrieved from https://socialinnovation.usc.edu/homeless_research/state-of-homelessness-in-california-fact-sheet/
- Gutwinski, S., Schreiter, S., Deutscher, K., & Fazel, S. (n.d.). The prevalence of mental disorders among homeless people in high-income countries: An updated systematic review and meta-regression analysis. Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/plosmedicine/article?id=10.1371/journal.pmed.1003750
- Ayano, G., Tesfaw, G., & Shumet, S. (2019, November 27). The prevalence of schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders among homeless people: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Retrieved from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s12888-019-2361-7
- Katherine H. Shelton Ph.D.Pamela J. Taylor M.D.Adrian Bonner Ph.D.Marianne van den Bree Ph.D., Ph.D., K. H., Search for more papers by this author, M.D., P. J., Ph.D., A. B., Ph.D., M. V., . . . Thompson, R. G. (2015, January 13). Risk Factors for Homelessness: Evidence From a Population-Based Study. Retrieved from https://ps.psychiatryonline.org/doi/full/10.1176/ps.2009.60.4.465
- Homelessness and COVID-19. (2021, July 13). Retrieved from https://www.chcf.org/collection/homelessness-covid-19/
- Fish, G. (2021, July 30). The Effect of COVID-19 on Homelessness in the US: United Way. Retrieved from https://unitedwaynca.org/stories/effect-pandemic-homeless-us/
- Nichols, C. (n.d.). California’s Homeless Population Rose 7% To 161,000 Ahead Of The Pandemic, New Report Finds. Retrieved from https://www.capradio.org/articles/2021/03/19/californias-homeless-population-rose-7-to-161000-ahead-of-the-pandemic-new-report-finds/
- California. (n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.nlihc.org/housing-needs-by-state/california
- Rosalsky, G. (2021, June 08). How California Homelessness Became A Crisis. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/06/08/1003982733/squalor-behind-the-golden-gate-confronting-californias-homelessness-crisis
- Levin, M., & Botts, J. (2019, December 31). California’s homelessness crisis – and possible solutions – explained. Retrieved from https://calmatters.org/explainers/californias-homelessness-crisis-explained/