{"id":7684,"date":"2026-05-18T23:31:53","date_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:31:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7684"},"modified":"2026-05-18T23:31:53","modified_gmt":"2026-05-18T23:31:53","slug":"2026-point-in-time-count-orange-countys-homeless-population-down-14-in-two-years","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7684","title":{"rendered":"2026 Point In Time Count: Orange County\u2019s homeless population down 14% in two years"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

For the first time in Orange County, the number of people staying in emergency shelters and transitional housing exceeded those living on the streets, according to results of the 2026 Point In Time Count\u00a0released Monday.<\/p>\n

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Overall, homelessness in the county fell by 14% over the last two years, officials said.<\/p>\n

The county reported that 6,321 people surveyed over the course of three nights in January said they were experiencing homelessness. That tally includes 206 veterans, 245 young adults between 18 and 24 years old, and 882 seniors aged 62 or older.<\/p>\n

Doug Becht, director of the county\u2019s Office of Care Coordination, said the results of the latest count \u201cshows encouraging progress\u201d in how the county is addressing homelessness and reflect the effectiveness of the prevention services offered.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese numbers indicated that our homeless service system is working and having positive impact,\u201d he said, \u201cbut there\u2019s still significant work ahead of us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Becht said it\u2019s too early to say what prompted such a notable drop in the number of homeless counted \u2014 that kind of insight will come as the county and its partners dig into the survey\u2019s data \u2014 and moving people from shelters to permanent housing remains the challenge. The lack of available housing, he said, has created a bottleneck in the county\u2019s homeless services system.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe see residents doing everything they can to be ready to accept housing opportunity when made available, but very few are,\u201d Becht said.<\/p>\n

The last Point In Time Count in 2024 recorded 7,322 unhoused people living in the county, a 28% jump from two years before.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

County officials attributed the double-digit rise to the termination of pandemic-era eviction moratoriums and rent relief programs, which had kept people housed during the early 2020s. Looking at the county\u2019s homeless population pre-pandemic in 2019 to 2024, officials noted at the time that there was just a 7% increase. (The 2021 census was postponed to 2022 due to the pandemic.)<\/p>\n

The 2024 report also found that 72% of the people living in county-run shelters were eligible for permanent housing, but only 1 in 12 were matched to a housing opportunity.<\/p>\n

This year, homelessness fell throughout the county, with the largest drop coming from south county cities, at 21%, followed by central county at 15.5%, and north county at 7.5%.<\/p>\n

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The 2026 survey recorded 3,256 people staying in emergency shelters or some other form of temporary housing \u2014 compared to more than 4,100 in 2024. Meanwhile, 3,065 people contacted were living on the streets \u201cor places not meant for human habitation,\u201d Becht said,\u00a0a 27% drop from the last count.<\/p>\n

\n<\/div>\n

Just under half of those surveyed said they were chronically homeless, while nearly 40% reported being homeless for the first time. Like in 2024, just over 75% of those surveyed said their last permanent address was in Orange County.<\/p>\n

The number of families experiencing homelessness fell by 12%: 307 families, including 552 children, were tallied among the homeless, a majority of whom were staying in shelters.<\/p>\n

More than 2,000 people, mostly those living on the streets, reported having a substance abuse disorder. The overall rate is comparable to 2024.<\/p>\n

The biennial count is required by the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development to tally and gather demographic data on each county\u2019s homeless population, including the number of families, juveniles or those with disabilities.<\/p>\n

Crucially, the data also helps determine how much state and federal funding a county receives to address homelessness.<\/p>\n

Becks Heyhoe, executive director of United to End Homelessness, said she wasn\u2019t particularly surprised by the uptick in the sheltered population, given the rise in bed utilization rates seen in emergency shelters over the past couple of years.<\/p>\n

She said housing needs continue to be urgent, but in the meantime, a greater investment in prevention programming may have contributed to the decrease in homelessness.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s entirely plausible,\u201d she said, \u201cthat perhaps the homeless prevention safety net in OC is stronger now than before.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Orange Lutheran softball team outlasts Chino Hills in Division 1 slugfest<\/a><\/p>\n

This is a developing story, please check back for updates.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For the first time in Orange County, the number of people staying in emergency shelters and transitional housing exceeded those living on the streets, according to results of the 2026 Point In Time Count released Monday.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":7683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-facts","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n2026 Point In Time Count: Orange County\u2019s homeless population down 14% in two years - Silicon Valley Moving Post<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/siliconvalleymovingpost.com\/?p=7684\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"2026 Point In Time Count: Orange County\u2019s homeless population down 14% in two years - 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