User:Amanzo2/Homelessness in California

Note to Peer Reviewers:
I am still in progress, as you'll see if you scroll I have copy and pasted two sections, one of which I have edited already (Public bathrooms) since the law that was discussed was misinterpreted and I am planning on adding to the "Youth" section since I stumbled upon some useful information that could contribute to it. Other than that I am planning on adding a "Women" and possibly "LGBTQ" section to integrate some intersectional consideration on how poverty and homelessness affects these groups in California since that is absent. Additionally, I found some sources that could be useful to add to the "Housing" section. I also noticed some useful information I might also trim down the introduction paragraph at it is fairly long.

I just haven't had much time to dedicate to this so far and I'm still gathering research to be able to write these new sections. Please leave any suggestions or what I should prioritize! Thanks!! - Annabelle :)

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These are just brainstorms, copied sections are past this:

Editing Homelessness in California article:

Sources to use/have used:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0002716221991040

Use this source possibly to add to youth section:

https://www.hud.gov/press/press_releases_media_advisories/HUD_No_23_20 7

Used in edits:

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billStatusClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB1297

[https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=HSC&division=104.&title=&part=15.&chapter=2.&article=1. https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/codes_displayText.xhtml?lawCode=HSC&division=104.&title=&part=15.&chapter=2.&article=1 .]

Add to insufficient housing section using HUD reports:

https://www.usich.gov/All_In.pdf

https://www.huduser.gov/portal/sites/default/files/pdf/2022-AHAR-Part-1.pdf

women and sexuality section

https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/sites/default/files/2023-06/CASPEH_Report_62023.pdf

https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/our-impact/our-studies/california-statewide-study-people-experiencing-homelessness

= From Homelessness in California = The United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) estimated that more than 171,500 people were homeless in California in January 2022. This represents 30% of the total homeless population of the United States even though California has slightly less than 12% of the country's total population, and is the highest per capita rate in the nation, with 0.44% of residents being homeless.

More than two-thirds of homeless people in California are unsheltered (meaning they sleep on the streets, in encampments, or in their cars), which is the highest percentage of any state in the United States. Half of the unsheltered homeless people in the United States live in California: about 115,500 people, which is nine times as many as the state with the second highest total. Even those who are sheltered are so insecurely, with 90% of homeless adults in California reporting that they spent at least one night unsheltered in the past six months.

A 2022 study found that differences in per capita homelessness rates across the United States are not due to mental illness, drug addiction, or poverty, but to differences in the cost of housing, with West Coast cities including San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego having homelessness rates five times that of areas with much lower housing costs like Arkansas, West Virginia, and Detroit, even though the latter locations have high burdens of opioid addiction and poverty. California has the second lowest number of housing units per capita, and an estimated shortage of one million homes affordable to the lowest income renters. Another 2022 study found that moderate decreases in rents would lead to significant declines in homelessness. A 2023 study published by the University of California, San Francisco also found that the high cost of housing was the greatest obstacle to reducing homelessness.

Scope of the Issue (took this paragraph out of intro to make less dense and out into this new section)
In both the 2007–22 and 2020–22 spans, California experienced higher increases in the number of people experiencing homelessness than any other state. Between 2010 and 2020, the number of people experiencing homelessness in California increased by 31%, while nationwide the number fell by 18%. Between 2020 and 2022, the number increased 6% in California and less than half a percent in the rest of the country. In 2021, 19% of Californians surveyed said they or someone close to them had been homeless at some point during the previous five years. 36% of homeless people in California are categorized as "chronically homeless" —which means that "they have a long-standing disability that significantly impedes their ability to live independently and have been unhoused for a consecutive year or on at least four occasions within a three-year period." The other 64% are categorized as "experiencing short-term homelessness" though many of them may have been homeless for similarly long periods of time but do not have "a long-standing disability" of the sort that meets the definition. 80% of homeless people in California are adults not with children, and an estimated 40% of those are aged 50 and older. 14% are families with children. 7% are unaccompanied youth (where "youth" is defined as being under age 25).

Youth
According to the Annual Homeless Assessment Report to Congress for 2020, 36% of homeless youth (defined as people under the age of 25) in the United States live in California. As of January 2022, 7% of those who are homeless in California are considered to be unaccompanied youth (people under the age of 25 not accompanied by parents or guardians). More than 220,000 public school (K-12) students in California experienced homelessness in 2020–21. Many homeless youth are considered to be "throwaway youth", e.g. adolescents that were forced out of their houses and onto the streets. There may be multiple reasons for this, such as parents unaccepting of gender identity or sexual orientation, pregnancy, abuse, etc. Other homeless youth may be “runaway youth” who flee their houses and live on the streets. Abuse, neglect, conflict, or poverty are among the reasons they run away.

'''The issue of youth homelessness is recognized by the federal government and in the 2016 fiscal year (FY) the HUD created and began funding the Youth Homelessness Demonstration Program (YHDP) to prevent, reduce, and end youth homelessness by developing and implementing targeted funding and resources through a community approach. As for the FY 2022, the HUD awarded $60 million to target youth homelessness in 16 specific communities, one of which included Riverside County, CA which received a $7,487,462 grant. In a press release by the HUD, this funding is said to "support a wide range of housing programs, including rapid rehousing, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, and host homes." Overall, the HUD also states that with funding, resources, and grants made available to 110 communities through the YHDP "to date" it totals to a $440 million investment in preventing and ending youth homelessness. '''

Women and LGBTQ+
A 2023 study called the The California Statewide Study of People Experiencing Homelessness (CASPEH) published and conducted by a research team at the University of California, San Francisco sought to explore the current state of homelessness in California, providing insights to the current realities of those experiencing homelessness, including women and those that fall within the LGBTQ+ community.

In regards to the gender makeup of the homeless population, this study showed that majority of population consists of cisgender men (69%) while women make up 30% of population and those identified as non-binary or trans are 1%. As for sexuality, about "9% of participants identified as being lesbian, gay, bisexual, pansexual, queer, or another non-heterosexual sexual identity".

Additionally, the study found that while women and trans and gender-non-conforming people make up less of the population, they were more prone to experiencing physical and especially sexual violence than cisgendered men were. Overall, it shows that physical violence is a common experience for all groups, however, 70% of cisgendered men experience it while 75% of cisgender women, and 87% of transgender/ non-binary individuals. As for sexual violence, it was "more common among cisgender women (43%) and trans/non-binary (74%) participants rather than cisgender men (17%)."

Public bathrooms
Existing law in California requires that establishments run by public agencies must have bathroom facilities available for the public, provided without any cost or charge. '''However, the Right to Restrooms Act of 2021 introduced by CA Assemblymember Quirk-Silva would have required that local governments take inventory of existing public restroom facilities and provide a report to the State Department of Public Health so that public databases with information on the availability, location, etc. of these facilities can be created and accessed by the public. This bill mentioned creating internet databases and a dissemination of this information in "user-friendly" formats particularly so that it was "available to agencies and service providers that work directly with homeless populations within the local government’s jurisdiction." This bill died in committee for the 2021-2022 legislature session but was reintroduced by Quirk-Silva under the same name for the 23-24 session and is currently being reviewed in committee.'''