A quarter of the state’s homeless are Black, study says — experts say more affordable housing needed

Over a quarter of homeless individuals in California are Black, almost four times higher than the state’s Black population, according to a report by the University of California, San Francisco, Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative. In Stanislaus County, the difference is a little lower — about 3.5 times.

The February report “Toward Equity: Understanding Black Californians’ Experiences of Homelessness” lays out the systemic causes that have left so many unhoused, detailing the crisis of homelessness among the minority group.

Black individuals comprise only 7% of California’s population yet represent 26% of the state’s homeless population, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

In Stanislaus County, 45% of the roughly 2,091 homeless people are unsheltered, according to the latest point-in-time count results, from 2023. Unsheltered means they are living outdoors on streets, in parks, abandoned buildings and vehicles, while sheltered means they are staying in temporary accommodations provided by homeless service organizations or government agencies.

Roughly 13% of those experiencing homelessness in the county are Black, while only about 3.7% of Stanislaus’ overall population is Black.

Kara Young Ponder, the lead author of the report and a director of the initiative, highlighted that decades of racism and discriminatory policies have contributed to the current crisis. She added the need for substantial efforts to address the issue and ensure that more homeless Black Californians find stable housing.

“Ending homelessness among Black Californians will require a dramatic increase in affordable housing, economic support to help them afford this housing, and dedicated efforts to navigate a challenging housing market and to enforce anti-discrimination laws,” Ponder said in a statement introducing the report.

Following the passage of Proposition 1, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s homelessness and mental health care reform measure, the UC report advocates for increased affordable housing and funding. This $6.4 billion bond aims to enhance housing production and expand treatment facilities.

However, according to the state Legislative Analyst’s Office, the bond’s capacity to construct housing units would only marginally reduce homelessness statewide. Meanwhile, mental health advocates remain doubtful that the measure will address California’s homeless crisis in the long run.

The barriers to housing, employment, income and healthcare that Black Californians have historically encountered are highlighted by UCSF researchers as contributing factors to homelessness.

Eight in 10 were previously housed but struggled to afford to stay in their homes. California’s median monthly rent is $1,600 a month, according to the report, but the median income for those with leases was just $1,200 a month; and even less for those who didn’t sign a lease — just $960 a month.

The same number of individuals cited high housing costs as the primary obstacle to regaining housing, the researchers said.

The challenges are even greater — 51% of respondents indicated that discrimination posed a barrier to securing housing, contrasting with 31% of white Californians experiencing homelessness. Additionally, 60% highlighted housing shortages and the lengthy waitlists for affordable housing as additional obstacles.

The economic challenges leading to homelessness among Black Californians also affect the broader Black community.

About four in 10 Black families own homes in the state, according to the California Housing Finance Agency. That rate has stayed roughly the same since the 1960s, even with decades of law in place to combat housing discrimination, and is far less than that of white, Asian and Latino homeowners.

“A throughline runs between the policies of redlining, segregation, and disinvestment to the disproportionate representation of Black Americans in today’s homeless population,” says the report.

Help for Black first-time homebuyers and mortgage assistance for homeowners to help narrow the gulf in homeownership in the state are among reparations bills introduced in February to undo the legacy of racial inequity in California.

Black renters are more likely to spend 30% or more of their household income on rent, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.

For Black Californians in the survey who held leases before they became homeless, that amount rose to more than half of their median household income. Those surveyed said changes in work and pay affected their ability to keep up with housing costs.

Federal, state and local leaders and housing advocates have long connected homelessness to the dearth of affordable housing.

The National Low-Income Housing Coalition estimates 11 million extremely low-income households in the U.S. pay at least half of their income toward housing, putting them at risk of losing their homes if they fall ill or lose their job.

Renters in Stanislaus County need to earn 1.9 times the state minimum wage to afford the average monthly asking rent of $1,450, according to the California Housing Partnership.

“If they can’t pay their rent, if they have difficulty in their current situation, they’re going to end up homeless, too,” Modesto educator Sharon Froba said. “It’s the natural progression.”

Sharon and husband David Froba’s research uncovered extensive racial housing discrimination in numerous Modesto neighborhoods. They found racially restrictive covenants in 91 out of 169 subdivisions in Modesto from the 1930s to the 1950s.

But for Black Californians, the pathway to homelessness is not solely economic. Many in the UC study reported serious mental health symptoms or hospitalizations or suicide attempts in their pasts, the result of physical or sexual abuse, systemic racism, incarceration or other traumas.

Black Californians who are homeless reported attempted suicide at a higher rate than the sample as a whole. That points to the “devastating effects of experiencing structural and individual traumas while also lacking adequate mental health care,” according to the report.

That, too, parallels the crisis in Black mental health brought by the combined weight of generational trauma, structural anti-Black racism, police violence and other factors.

In California, three in 10 Black women responding to a California Health Care Foundation study on Black Californians and mental health in August, reported mental health conditions. That number was lower for Black men, at about 20%, but many more Black men fail to report their symptoms, researchers say.

Nationally, the crisis has become increasingly deadly. Suicide has become the third leading cause of death for Black male teens and young adults, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with Black men and boys accounting for more than 80% of suicides among African Americans.

But homeless Black Californians who participated in the UCSF study remained hopeful that more navigation help to find and apply for housing, as well as housing vouchers or a small monthly subsidy could help move them out of homelessness, the researchers said.

“The situation for unhoused Black Californians is dire, but it is not insurmountable,” said the report’s co-author, Tiana Moore.

“In the long term, we must recognize and reduce the many factors that impede their search for a permanent home,” Moore said. “In the short term, even modest financial support could help stave off their homelessness.”