Monterey County 2024 Point in Time numbers released
MONTEREY COUNTY, Calif. (KION-TV) -- The County of Monterey release its semi-annual Point in Time (PIT) numbers for 2024 on Thursday afternoon, stating the overall homeless population in the county at 2,436, according to the county.
Of this total population, 23% or 553 people were sheltered while 1,883 or 77% of the homeless population were unsheltered, according to the county. The county also says that this is a 19% increase or 389 people more than the last time a PIT was conducted.
The county says that chronic homelessness has increased from 2019 by 258 people to a total of 820 people, which is 148 people more than the total chronic homeless population in 2022.
Veteran homelessness decreased by 26 people for a total of 146 people in 2024, according to the county. Additionally, the county reported that family homelessness increased by 19 people from 2022 (366 total), which was still down from 2019's 596 people.
Children and youth homelessness declined consistently from 2019 by 99 people for total of 225 people.
Seventy-eight percent of the homeless population surveyed said that they've been homeless for over one year, and 61% of the total surveyed attributed homelessness to financial issues like job loss or evictions, according to the County of Monterey.
There were 23% of the total homeless population surveyed who said that they're experiencing homelessness for the first time.
The county reported that half of the total surveyed population was experiencing depression, while 40% said they were experiencing substance abuse issues. The county also said that 32% of the homeless population said they had post traumatic stress disorder (or PTSD) while 31% of people claimed that they have a disability.
Overall, from the county's 2015 PIT, Monterey reported a total increase of 128 homeless people, stating that a large portion of the homeless problem can trace back to COVID-19, the slowing of $50 million in Emergency Rental Assistance, Project Roomkey's closure, delays in Project Homekeys, the end of eviction moratoriums and converting the one-year transition housing. The county also attributed homelessness to the cost of housing, stating that residents "must make $55.37 per hour to meet the living wage in the area," and that the fair market value of a two-bedroom house in the county costs $3,049 per month.
"These numbers aren't what we hoped they would be, but it reminds us that the work we're doing is important and ongoing," said District 1 Supervisor Luis Alejo. "On a positive note, we are committed to address homelessness. We are not shying away from this challenge."
The county stated a handful of proposed solutions and future projects that they hope will take down numbers in future PITs.
