VC Homeless Count: Santa Paula
reports 20 of the 1,417 countywide
May 06, 2015
By Peggy Kelly
Santa Paula News
The number of reported homeless throughout Ventura County has again dropped according to the annual count held in January, a survey often undercounted and one that shows a troubling trend with the number of those with mental disorders living on the streets.
Overall, the number of homeless men, women and children in Ventura County counted during the one-day January survey decreased for the third straight year, to 1,417 in 2015.
According to the 2015 Ventura County Homeless Count report, that number is down from the 1,449 people counted last year — an artificially low number disputed by count officials who noted reporting errors in Oxnard — and also down 20 percent from 2013 when 1,774 homeless were counted.
It is not a given that the number of those counted is a true picture of the homeless situation as participation is voluntary and not all of those without a home are easily identified,
In Santa Paula, 20 homeless persons were counted on one-day in January 2015, a more than 30 percent drop from 2014 when 31 homeless persons were counted.
When the annual count was launched in 2007 Santa Paula had 97 homeless counted, a number that has steadily declined.
Kay Wilson-Bolton of the SPIRIT of Santa Paula, who also serves as the Santa Paula Fire Department Chaplain, coordinated the January 27 count in Santa Paula.
The local count of 20 persons included 14 men and three women; there was no gender recorded for three people that were contacted.
Out of the 20 people counted in the area, only one person said they were a military veteran; nationwide, the number of homeless veterans has declined dramatically with about 12 percent of all homeless now stating they are veterans.
Thirteen of those counted stated they are Latino-Hispanic, five stated white and one stated there were American Indian.
There were no homeless families or children counted but 11 of those counted stated they are chronically homeless: according to HUD’s definition, that includes persons living in emergency shelters and/or on the streets or in abandoned buildings for the past year or more, and/or persons living in an emergency shelter and/or on the streets or in abandoned buildings four times or more during the last three years.
Five of those surveyed in Santa Paula stated they have a chronic health condition, four stated they have a disability and two stated to have a developmental disability.
Five, 25 percent, stated they have a mental health issue while nine (45 percent) stated they have a problem with alcohol and/or drugs.
Four of those that responded stated they have been a victim of domestic violence or violence inflicted on them by an intimate partner.
There were two youths 18-24 counted and four seniors that were 62-plus at the time of the count.
Six of Santa Paula’s homeless, 30 percent, stated they had been released from jail or prison in the past 12 months.
The annual survey is a requirement to receive funding from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). In Ventura County, local groups take part in the count effort in each of the 10 cities.
HUD funding accounts for almost $2 million annually to support programs and services for the homeless in Ventura County.
Since the count started in 2007, Oxnard and Ventura have traded off the top spot, depending on which city hosted the West County Winter Warming Shelter.
Oxnard hosted the 2014-2015 shelter and had the most homeless in the county with 603 people; in Ventura there were 334 homeless, about 33 percent less than last year.
