Re: California?s Homelessness Crisis Is Homegrown, Study Finds

[Thank Nancy Pelosi]

On 30 Dec 2023, Jonathan Harold Esmond Vere Harmsworth
<patr...@protonmail.com> posted some
news:umpnku$1c1ic$2...@dont-email.me:

> Democrats failed to control drugs and nigger crime. They put tens of
> thousands of people out of work.

SACRAMENTO — California’s homelessness crisis is a homegrown problem
that is deepening amid a shortage of affordable housing and emergency
shelter, and it’s often the brutal conditions of living on the street
that trigger behavioral health problems, such as depression and anxiety,
researchers found in a comprehensive study on homelessness.

The new findings by leading researchers at the University of California
show that at least 90% of adults who are experiencing homelessness in
the state became homeless while living in California due primarily to
the dire lack of affordable housing.

“This idea that homeless people are rushing into California is just not
true,” said Margot Kushel, a physician who treats homeless people and
the lead investigator of the study for the UC-San Francisco Benioff
Homelessness and Housing Initiative. “There’s so much myth-making around
this magnet theory that people who are homeless flock to California, but
this is our own problem.”

“These are our own policies,” Kushel added, referring to the state and
federal governments. “We did this to people.”

An estimated 172,000 people are homeless in California, the largest
homeless population of any state in the U.S. and 30% of the nation’s
total, even though California has just 12% of the population.
Researchers believe the way the state measures homelessness, though
important, represents an undercount because cities and counties tallying
their homeless populations in just one day miss people who may be hidden
and living in their cars, for instance.

The homelessness study went further than annual point-in-time counts by
analyzing the experiences of 3,200 homeless adults age 18 and older from
October 2021 to November 2022, then conducted in-depth interviews with
some participants to gain a better understanding of the state’s overall
crisis.

California Health and Human Services Secretary Mark Ghaly, who asked for
an analysis of the state’s homelessness crisis, said the findings
underscore where it must improve. The study could inform the state’s
approach to expanding its behavioral health system.

“As we drive toward addressing the health and housing needs of
Californians experiencing homelessness, this study reinforces the
importance of comprehensive and integrated supports,” Ghaly said in a
statement. “California is taking bold steps to address unmet needs for
physical and behavioral health services, to create a range of housing
options that are safe and stable, and to meet people where they are.”

Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom and state health officials are steering
initiatives that include a 2024 ballot measure to expand treatment for
mental health and addiction, including building more residential
treatment facilities. Newsom is also leading a new program under the
Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Act, known as CARE
courts, to move people into court-ordered treatment. And the
administration is seeking to add rent payments as a health care benefit
available to low-income Californians on Medi-Cal.

Kushel said the findings point to the increasing demands for adequate
mental health and addiction treatment — and more low-income housing.
While some people reported heightened mental health and substance use
problems before becoming homeless, the trauma of being on the streets,
Kushel said, can lead to, or amplify, behavioral health conditions,
including drug use and depression.

A staggering 82% of people experiencing homelessness said they had a
mental health condition or substance use challenge in their lifetime.
And 66% said they were currently experiencing mental health problems,
such as depression, anxiety, hallucinations, or trouble remembering
things.

“I think that speaks to the despair that people experience,” Kushel
said.

Sage Johnson, 28, was homeless in Los Angeles and lived for years in
shelters before getting into low-income housing. Despite working
graveyard shifts at Walgreens and other minimum-wage jobs at the time,
she said, she couldn’t find anything affordable and experienced
heightened depression and anxiety while homeless.

“Being out there unmedicated, without therapy, you spiral out of
control,” Johnson said, who was among the formerly homeless who helped
guide the research.

The report also found:

Of California’s adult homeless population, 75% became homeless in their
county of residence. Nearly 40% reported being homeless for the first
time. The median length of homelessness was 22 months. In the six months
before becoming homeless, people had earned a median monthly income of
$960. Roughly 1 in 5 became homeless after leaving an institution such
as jail. Most people, 78%, reported spending the most time homeless in
the prior six months in unsheltered settings: 21% in a vehicle, 57%
without a vehicle. Before experiencing homelessness, 32% had a mortgage
or rental lease agreement; roughly 50% did not. Researchers believe many
unhoused people have encountered violence, contributing to the crisis:
72% reported physical violence in their lifetime and 24% said they had
experienced sexual violence. Sexual violence was more common among women
and transgender or nonbinary individuals. The homeless population is
aging; 47% of all adults surveyed were 50 or older. And Black and Native
Americans are disproportionately homeless. For example, just 6% of the
state’s population is Black, yet 26% of homeless people surveyed
identified as Black. The findings show the limits of California’s
unprecedented spending to combat its homelessness crisis. Newsom’s
administration has poured more than $20 billion into the crisis since he
took office in 2019, much of that distributed to local governments to
provide services and build housing.

That’s on top of billions the state is pouring into improving its mental
health system and a $12 billion social services-based initiative called
CalAIM, which offers housing security deposits and sobering centers to
help vulnerable populations, including homeless people.

But the study found that expanding health coverage and adding social
services isn’t serving all those in need. Specifically, 83% of homeless
people surveyed said they had health insurance mostly through Medi-Cal,
California’s Medicaid program for low-income people. Yet more than half
relied on the emergency room for care and nearly a quarter said they
couldn’t access the care they needed. A majority who said they were
experiencing mental health problems either weren’t being treated or got
care through emergency rooms.

In some ways, the policies Newsom is steering may make the problem
worse. For example, his administration has backed removing homeless
encampments in exchange for shelter and services. But homeless people
say those promises are often unmet.

Forced displacement, the report found, and confiscation of belongings
when clearing encampments can hurt the state’s ability to find housing
for people, Kushel said.

“It sometimes feels like one part of government is working against the
other part,” she said. “We’re frantically trying to get people their
documents so they can move into housing, and then somebody else throws
it all away. That’s not helpful.”

Angela Hart: ah...@kff.org, @ahartreports

https://californiahealthline.org/news/article/california-homelessness-is-
homegrown-university-of-california-research/