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SANTA CRUZ \u2014 As the City of Santa Cruz continues to disperse its largest homeless encampment<\/a> from a city park in phased evictions, a countywide analysis released Friday details the social epidemic\u2019s larger picture.<\/p>\n Last month\u2019s high-level results<\/a> of the federally mandated point-in-time count \u2014 Santa Cruz County\u2019s first in three years \u2014 revealed an estimated 6% increase in the overall homeless population. During a five-hour canvass in the early morning hours of Feb. 28, some 2,299 individuals without housing were counted, compared to 2,167 counted in January 2019. Of this year\u2019s total, more than 77% \u2014 1,774 \u2014 was without shelter.<\/p>\n In Santa Cruz County jurisdictions, the count of homeless individuals was highest in unincorporated areas, with a collective tally of 1,888 \u2014 up nearly 20% since 2019. In a city-by-city breakdown, Santa Cruz totaled the most individuals without housing, with 1,439 people counted, also up 20% from 2019. Watsonville dropped 1% to 366 people, while Scotts Valley jumped four to 48 people and Capitola from six to 35 people counted.<\/p>\n While the report demonstrates strides in countywide efforts to reduce the number of homeless families \u2014 a 59% reduction from 2019, it also highlights an apparent spike in veteran homelessness. The census counted 332 veterans, nearly all of whom \u2014 93% \u2014 were unsheltered in 2022. That number marked a 120% increase over the 2019 tally. Some seven months later, members of a coalition of organizations with a focus on veteran homelessness are questioning the census results. A so-called \u201cby-name\u201d list tracking individual homeless veterans maintained by Housing Matters, Nation\u2019s Finest, HUD-Veterans Affairs Supportive Housing and the Department of Veterans Affairs Coordinated Entry, calculates there are only 52 veterans without housing in Santa Cruz County, as of September.<\/p>\n \u201cThis year\u2019s PIT count doesn\u2019t align with what we\u2019re seeing in our Supportive Services for Veteran Families program, or the data compiled through our campus services including the mailroom, bathrooms and showers,\u201d Tom Stagg, Housing Matters\u2019 chief initiatives officer is quoted in a media release issued after last month\u2019s preliminary county was released. \u201cIn fact, it appears that numbers of veterans experiencing homelessness in the County may actually be declining.\u201d<\/p>\n Veterans experiencing homelessness may contact Housing Matters\u2019 intake and assessment specialist at 831-222-0127. <\/p>\n\n The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development relies on data collected in the point-in-time count from each regional \u201ccontinuum of care\u201d to determine how it distributes federal homeless funding dollars. Santa Cruz County\u2019s Housing for Health Partnership receives about $5.2 million annually in federal funding, based on what has traditionally been a biennial count. Housing for Health Partnership leadership expect to conduct the point-in-time counts annually, going forward.<\/p>\n The full 45-page 2022 County of Santa Cruz Homeless Count and Survey Comprehensive Report<\/a> revealed trends extrapolated from surveys collected from 333 people from Feb. 28 to March 28. Continuing its upward march since at least 2015, the survey found that the leading cause of homelessness for 37% of respondents was an eviction, for the first time pushing ahead of job loss, at 33%, in seven years. Individuals facing eviction or who are at risk of homelessness may text \u201cRent\u201d to 211211 or call 211 for resources and services managed by the United Way. View the full report online at housingforhealthpartnership.org<\/a>, under \u201cLearning Center,\u201d \u201cData and Reports.\u201d<\/p>\n Data collected by Watsonville-based social research firm Applied Survey Research, on behalf of the Housing for Health Partnership, showed that:<\/p>\n \u2022 Race<\/strong>: Persons identifying as Black or African American rose from 1 % to 12% of the homeless population in 2022, compared to the 1% of the general population that group comprises countywide.<\/p>\n \u2022 Residence<\/strong>: Respondents who indicated they had lived in Santa Cruz County before losing their housing rose from 74% in 2019 to 89% in 2022.<\/p>\n \u2022 Needs<\/strong>: Rental assistance, for 89% of respondents, was the most common support cited as needed to obtain permanent housing, ahead of money for moving costs, at 74%.<\/p>\n \u2022 Job<\/strong>: Employment among respondents fell 11% from 2019, with 20% reporting that they had had some type of job.<\/p>\n \u2022 Addiction<\/strong>: Respondents experiencing a self-reported substance-use disorder, the most common disabling health condition, increased 37% from 2019, to 67%.<\/p>\n \u2022 Criminal justice<\/strong>: Respondents indicating they were on probation or parole when they most recently became homeless rose 11% from 2019, to a total of 29%.<\/p>\n