CA Budget & Policy Center Releases Report on Homelessness in California

The California Budget & Policy Center this week released a brief on the demographics of homelessness in California. The report highlights the various and complex reasons individuals experience homelessness, as well as the importance of tailoring interventions to different types and scales to support unhoused residents statewide.

The report’s primary findings include:

• Homelessness in California is temporary for most who experience it, but some face long-term, chronic homelessness
• Unhoused Californians are primarily single adults, with a smaller share of families with children and unaccompanied youth
• Racial disparities are stark within California’s homeless population, with Black, American Indian or Alaska Native, and Pacific Islander residents disproportionately comprising the state’s homeless population
• Californians experience homelessness in every county throughout the state, with the most residing in Los Angeles County
• California’s unhoused population is aging and increasingly composed of older adults

The report calls a series of actions to address homelessness in California, including interventions focused on overrepresented Californians, including people of color and single adults who comprise the majority of the homeless population.

The full California Budget & Policy Center report is available here.