Laserfiche WebLink
Chapter 3: Homeless Population and Current Service Capacity <br />Another estimate of the homeless population is based on those receiving County <br />support. According to the County Department of Social Services, in June of 1994, <br />there were 10,242 unduplicated "cases" of support including cash support (AFDC for <br />families and GA for individuals), and Medicaid or food stamps for which the head of <br />household was classified as homeless. This number represents cases, not people, and so <br />does not account for couples and families receiving aid. If we conservatively estimate <br />that the average AFDC and food stamps case actually covers two people, the number of <br />homeless people receiving assistance in 1994 in Alameda County is closer to 16,500. <br />This number does not include homeless persons who were working, receiving <br />Supplemental Security Income for a disability or Social Security, or those who had no <br />income at all. Using the adjusted June 1994 caseload of 16,500 persons, as a point in <br />time estimate would indicate an annual homeless population of 49,500. <br />A third basis for an estimate comes from HomeBase, the Bay Area's public interest law <br />center on homelessness. Using State records of homeless families who sought one-time <br />housing assistance from the AFDC-HAP program between July 1993 and June 1994, <br />HomeBase reports that 18,180 parents and children experienced an episode of homeless <br />during a year in Alameda County. This number is unduplicated, and does not include <br />any families that applied for this assistance in the previous year although they may still <br />(or again) be homeless, because applicants may not apply more than once in a two year <br />period. It also does not include single individuals or couples without children. <br />National estimates identify families with children as constituting 43 percent of the <br />homeless population. Local estimates place the percentage of homeless families at <br />between 30-49 percent of the total homeless population. Using the HomeBase figure as <br />abase, this range would produce a total annual homeless population in the County of <br />between 36,360 and 60,600. <br />Alameda County-Wide Homeless Continuum of Care Plan: April 1997 <br />13 <br />