San Jose has the fourth-highest number of homeless people per capita in the U.S., according to a recent survey, and advocates blame multiple problems.
An Insider Monkey report shows that for every 100,000 people per capita, San Jose has 363 homeless residents. New York City ranks third, Los Angeles ranks second, and Eugene, Oregon, ranked first out of 25 cities. Advocates and experts said the problem is multi-pronged: organizations working in silos, a lack of affordable housing, and rising rents are the key issues.
In a county where the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment is $3,000 a month, that would mean a full paycheck for someone working minimum wage.
“We know that housing prevents homelessness, and we don’t have enough deeply affordable housing that our residents need to stay stable and safe,” Ray Bramson, chief operating officer of Destination: Home and San Jose Spotlight columnist, told San Jose. Stand out.
About 4,297 new households experienced homelessness for the first time last year, a 24% increase from the 3,473 households reported in 2022. San Jose is home to 6,340 homeless individuals, and the county counted 9,903 unhoused individuals in its 2023 point-in-time count, a biennial survey of the region’s homeless residents. And despite the efforts, for every family the county houses, nearly two households are experiencing homelessness.
According to the 2023 Homeless Census and Survey, 24% of people became homeless after losing their job, followed by 11% who became unsheltered due to alcohol or drug use. Major events such as a medical expense, losing a month’s income, or an accident could cause a family to become homeless.
In San Jose, about a third of the homeless population cannot work, 41% are looking for work and 28% are not looking for work at all, according to the 2022 homeless census report.
The lack of coordination between various service providers and the city’s inability to measure the effectiveness of its programs also poses problems in effectively addressing homelessness.
Todd Langton, executive director of Agape Silicon Valley, a nonprofit for homeless people, said too often organizations work independently of each other and there isn’t enough accountability for how money is used.
“The county and city’s approach is extremely dysfunctional. We deserve to be No. 4,” Langton told San Jose Spotlight. “In Santa Clara County, there are hundreds of different silos of agencies and nonprofits, working separately, without any oversight and without being accountable to senior management, so to speak.”
San Jose Councilman Dev Davis said characterizing the city and county as working in silos is not a fair characterization of what has been happening over the past 18 months.
“We have built thousands of units, thousands more are in the pipeline. We have several temporary housing sites and we are looking for safe places to sleep, how to do them and where,” Davis told San Jose Spotlight. “I don’t know any city councilor who doesn’t get up every day and think about homelessness and the issues that arise around homelessness, like trash and sanitation, and try to find a new way and better to improve the problem.
San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan declined to comment for this story.
In April, the California State Auditor found that San Jose failed to identify all of its spending on homeless support services, nor adequately measure the effectiveness of its systems. It also found that most of the city’s service providers have yet to receive a performance report, despite costing the city millions of dollars in contracts.
The city also lacks enough temporary or permanent housing to meet demand, and auditors recommended that city officials immediately collect data on temporary housing, something the audit found was lacking.
Langton points out how wasteful it is for the city to sweep up encampments without first giving people a place to live, pushing homeless people to another part of the city who might later return to the same place that was swept.
“It’s a waste of time and money and causes a lot of stress and hardship for homeless people,” Langton told San Jose Spotlight.
One city that has been effective in reducing homelessness is Houston, Texas, a model San Jose should follow more closely, Langton said.
In 2011, Houston had one of the largest homeless populations in the country, with more than 8,000 homeless people. The following year, the city implemented an aggressive strategy to provide people with affordable permanent housing and subsidized rents, ceasing to build shelters. They also streamlined service providers under an umbrella organization, The Way Home, led by the Houston Coalition for the Homeless.
More than a decade later, Houston has reduced its homeless population to 3,200 people, a 62% decrease, and has housed more than 30,000 people.
However, the main difference between Houston and San Jose is the cost of living, said Bramson, who traveled to Houston and spoke with key players there.
“I think it’s essential that we continue to respond to the crisis on our streets and the people who are suffering every day,” Bramson told San Jose Spotlight. “But if we don’t address the underlying issues, and that’s the lack of affordable housing, we’re going to have a hard time making long-term change.”
This article was originally published in English in the San Jose Spotlight.
