After Reporting Lower-Than-Expected Figures, Butte County Considers New Homeless Count

Butte County officials are considering plans to conduct a new homeless count, just a day after releasing the results of the most recent tally, which many see as a significant undercount of the total homeless population.

The biennial point-in-time (PIT) count was conducted on a single rainy day in March, just five months after the deadly Camp Fire leveled the town of Paradise. That tally identified 2,304 sheltered and unsheltered homeless people countywide, many of whom were directly impacted by the fire. That’s a 16% increase since 2017.

The report acknowledges that the results are likely an undercount “due to ongoing challenges in locating homeless individuals, especially those that are displaced and unhoused due to the Camp Fire.”

Officials said the timing of the initial count was also problematic.

“At the end of March, Camp Fire survivors were just starting to mentally come out of the haze,” said Jennifer Griggs, Butte County’s homeless coordinator. “So if we were to take this now, I would suspect there would be more Camp Fire survivors who were first-time homeless that are out on our streets.”

If approved, the new homeless count would take place in January.

The survey found 891 people living in unsheltered conditions (including vehicles without hookups), 420 in sheltered conditions and 993 sheltered with the support of the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Of the 891 people living in unsheltered conditions, 23% reported surviving the Camp Fire and experiencing homelessness for the first time. And 15% said they were homeless before the fire.

“That is really our most vulnerable population,” said Griggs, of the longer-term homeless community. “Just like any other Camp Fire survivor, those who were homeless prior lost their community.”

She added, “They’re no longer in their safe zone, so it’s very difficult for them to engage.”

The Camp Fire, which broke out in early November and quickly became the deadliest and most destructive wildfire in California history, wiped out a huge swath of housing stock in a county that was already facing a housing crisis, with a vacancy rate of just 1.5%.

Today’s even tighter housing situation has created a kind of hierarchy between those who were homeless before the fire and those who have since become homeless as a result of it, putting the former at an even greater disadvantage, Griggs said.

“Chances are they don’t have the best credit,” she said. “Chances are they have some evictions. Their employment may or may not be there anymore. And if a property owner has [another] person who has a full-time job, no evictions … you know who they’re going to take.”

To address the shortage, state Assemblyman James Gallagher, R-Yuba City, who represents the district, recently introduced a bill to expedite the construction of new housing units in fire-impacted areas. FEMA also plans to offer additional mobile housing units in the nearby town of Gridley in August.