County supervisors unanimously agreed to implement a “By-Name-List,'' a comprehensive list of every person experiencing homelessness, updated in real-time with their consent.
The countywide By-Name-List (BNL) intends to provide detailed information that helps communities better match housing solutions with the needs of individuals and track real-time changes in the size, composition, and dynamics of the homeless population.
“This action is a common-sense move to make us more effective as we tackle the homelessness crisis," Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer, the measure's co-sponsor, said. “Addressing this challenge together across jurisdictions, as a region, means taking steps like this to strengthen our data and coordination and ensure the most vulnerable don't fall through the cracks."
The County Chief Administrative officer Helen Robins-Meyer will work with county staff, community organizations, service providers, local governments, people with lived experience, and the Regional Task Force on Homelessness to explore the feasibility of the
developing list. Within 90 days, she will provide the board with recommendations.
The 2022 Point-in-time Count conducted by the Regional Taskforce on Homelessness found approximately 8,427 individuals experiencing homelessness across San Diego county in one single night. Those figures show a 10 percent increase from 2020 when the last point-in-time count took place.
This number includes 4,106 unsheltered San Diegans and 4,321 individuals in shelters. It also showed a 56 percent increase in families experiencing homelessness and an increase in senior citizens and Black individuals experiencing homelessness in the region.
Of those surveyed, 85 percent said they had fallen homeless in the San Diego region.
