More disabled and elderly Santa Cruz County residents are experiencing homelessness this year than in 2023, according to the county Human Services Department.
The county’s 2024 point-in-time count released earlier this month revealed that there was a 19% increase in homelessness for disabled residents and a 7% increase in homelessness among residents 55 and older compared to last year. By contrast, overall homelessness in the county increased only slightly from last year: a 2.6% increase.
The point-in-time count tracks the total number of sheltered and unsheltered homeless residents during one night in January. For Santa Cruz County, that number was 1,850. About a quarter of that population was over 55, and over half of the total homeless population reported experiencing at least one physical or mental disability, according to the point-in-time count.
The results of the report also arrive on the heels of Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Thursday executive order mandating state agencies to remove homeless camps throughout California.
“As we continue to grapple with funding challenges for addressing homelessness and the increasing unaffordability of Santa Cruz County in general, older and disabled adults are increasingly disproportionately impacted,” said county Housing for Health Division director Robert Ratner.
That unaffordability makes Santa Cruz County one of the most expensive metropolitan counties in the country. Using the market rate rents of two-bedroom apartments, one report from the National Low Income Housing Coalition — a group that advocates for low-income housing policy — found Santa Cruz County to be the most expensive in the United States.
In addition to increased homelessness, rates of food insecurity among Santa Cruz County’s older residents are also on the rise. The number of adults 65 and older who received in-home support services from the county also increased, according to the Human Services Department.
County officials are also concerned because the population of older adults in Santa Cruz County is increasing.
According to the Health Services Department, the county anticipates that about a third of the total population will be 60 and older by 2030.
“The population of older adults in Santa Cruz County is itself increasing, and with it, I fear, so will the disparities,” Ratner said.
Despite state and federal funding options to address the unique disparities of senior residents, county officials said they are not always sustainable.
“The population of older adults in Santa Cruz County is itself increasing, and with it, I fear, so will the disparities.”
Robert Ratner, director of Santa Cruz County Housing for Health Division
“Our programs are not sustainable when their funding goes away, which sets us back in our ability locally to best serve the older and disabled adults in our community,” said county Adult and Long Term Care Division director Alicia Morales.
The county will release the results of an aging survey in August that hopes to offer guidance for improving housing stability among elderly and disabled residents.
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