The homeless crisis in the Bay Area was exacerbated in the last two years, and now Alameda County has measured just how drastic things were as the pandemic was only getting started.
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Deaths amongst people experiencing homelessness increased by 89% over three years in the county, according to a recently released report by county officials.
The first report the county has ever done, the 'Homeless Mortality' report measured the causes of death for unhoused people from 2018 to 2020.
During that three year period, more than 800 homeless people died, most of whom died on the street or outside of a hospital or clinical setting.
According to Kerry Abbott, Director of the Office of Homeless Care and Coordination, those most at risk were those with underlying health conditions, like asthma or diabetes, "that in combination with not having a safe place to sleep really makes it much more likely the consequences are going to be severe or fatal."
Of the 800 who died, more than 75% were men, and about a quarter died from overdoses.
The report was developed by the county's HCSA's Health Care for the Homeless and Community Assessment Planning and Evaluation (CAPE) departments. Death certificates were analyzed to inform the data.
"Health care and homeless services providers will have the access to analyze the data and create recommendations for policy and practice changes that contribute to the reduction of preventable deaths among people experiencing homelessness," said the county press release issued along with the report.
The report demonstrates how necessary it is to get people into housing that need it, said Abbott.
"We learned that by giving people a place with their own door, their own bed, their own bathroom, that all kinds of health indicators improved," she said.
And it's not just health that improves, the effectiveness of other services improves when participants have access to stable housing.
"We find that every other service we have works so much better if our residents have a safe place to sleep," said Abbott.
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