San Diego is Now the 4th U.S. City with the Most Homeless

There are currently 8,742 homeless in the city.

Wondering if the homeless population in San Diego is growing instead of shrinking in recent years? Well, wonder no more, because according to data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, San Diego is now on the 4th city with the most homeless population in the U.S., and has actually seen a worsening of the problem in contrast to other major U.S. cities.

Eight years ago, San Diego wasn't even on the top 10, but the amount of homeless people has been on steadily increasing and in 2011 it reached the 5th place and this year it's taken spot #4 for the first time, behind metropolitan areas of Seattle, Los Angeles and New York City.

There are currently 8,742 homeless in the San Diego metro area, which is a 49% increase according to U.S. statistics. That still doesn't surpass the 58% that was registered back in 2011, when there were 9,436 homeless.

Fuente: consciouslifenews

According to the government, a chronically homeless person is someone who is disabled and has gone without housing for a year, or several times over three years. Which the Los Angeles city and county holds the number one spot in the state of California for these types of homeless people, with 12,356. New York City holds the number one spot in the U.S. with more than 75 thousand homeless people.

The Regional Task Force on the Homeless in San Diego says that one-fifth of the homeless population reported having a severe mental illness and 17 percent reported substance or alcohol abuse disabilities.

Dolores Diaz, executive director of the Regional Task Force on the Homeless, said a number of factors influence San Diego's homeless population and it's hard to pinpoint an exact explanation for this year's spike.

San Diego County's Board of Supervisors allocated $10 million toward the creation of affordable housing throughout the region, part of a $145.5 million spending plan from California's Mental Health Services Act, passed by California voters in 2004. The act provides housing, treatment and recovery programs from a 1 percent tax on income from millionaires.

Via The San Diego Union-Tribune

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miranda.garcia@sandiegored.com

Translated by: edgar.martinez@sandiegored.com

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