Santa Barbara County’s Homeless Population Drops Slightly in 2023

Santa Barbara County’s Homeless Population

Drops Slightly in 2023

City Hall Looking for Permanent

Downtown Day Center Location

by Nick Welsh | March 21, 2023

Santa Barbara County experienced a slight dip in the number of homeless people counted during this year’s Point-in-Time Count compared to last year’s, according to preliminary results released last week. This year’s federally mandated count took place the morning of January 25 and involved 400 volunteers fanning out throughout the county’s 89 census tracts in search of homeless people to enumerate. Those volunteers counted 75 fewer homeless people this year compared to 2022, a decline of 3.7 percent. 

Perhaps more telling was the 12 percent drop in the number of people deemed “unsheltered” — either living on the streets or in cars. The City of Santa Barbara — home to about 60 percent of the county’s counted homeless population — saw the biggest drop of both, a decline of 95 in total numbers and a drop of 106 people living either on the streets or unsheltered. 

For those in the trenches of homeless outreach and shelter, these numbers were occasion for a mix of relief and satisfaction. But they were also taken with a grain of salt. To the latter point, the numbers yielded offer only a snapshot. To the former point, the count reflects the intense focus, effort, and number of resources that have been dedicated in the past several years to try to bring people in from the cold.