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How is Orange County Addressing Homelessness? <br /> <br />2021-2022 Orange County Grand Jury Page 11 <br /> <br />4. Housing - Permanent housing, including Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH), has <br />increased 13 percent over the last five years, from 3,261 in 2017 to 3,689 in 2021. <br /> <br />Source: 211 OC Housing Inventory Count 2017-2121 <br />• Housing Vouchers (Section 8) are issued by local Housing Authorities who set aside <br />some for the homeless. They prioritize individual veterans, disabled, and families with <br />children, as well as designating some for PSH projects. Vouchers are a permanent <br />housing subsidy that require individuals to contribute 30 percent of their income to rent. <br />• Exits from emergency shelters to permanent housing were limited not only by the <br />number of vouchers available, but by the inability of homeless individuals to find housing <br />where landlords would accept vouchers. From 2018 to 2021, exits from the CoC <br />homeless system to permanent housing have hovered between 24 and 32 percent.22 <br />• 2,700 PSH units were needed according to the PIT count in 2017. PSH is for homeless <br />individuals who are living with disabilities and mental illness. OC Housing Community <br />Development leveraged California Mental Health Services Act funds resulting in 2,700 <br />PSH units being built, approved, or in the planning stage as of 2022. <br />• Treatment programs for homeless individuals, who could benefit from permanent <br />housing but require treatment programs to be successful, are in short supply. <br />• Transitional Aged Youth (TAY), are 16–24-year-olds who age out of the Foster Care <br />system. They are vulnerable and many become homeless. The CoC funds one shelter <br />with 25 beds for TAY where the waiting list for a bed is nine months. During the <br />pandemic, housing vouchers for TAY increased from five to 120 but fell short of meeting <br />the 150 beds needed.23 <br /> <br />21 Orange County Housing Stock, 211 OC, Housing Inventory Count 2021 Report. <br />22 Longitudinal Systems Analysis, 211 OC, FY 2018 through 2021. <br />23 Dr. Shauntina Sorrells, MSW, DSW, Chief Program Officer, Orangewood Children’s Home, Chair CoC TAY <br />Committee, in a presentation to OC Supervisor Foley’s Forum on Homelessness, Santa Ana, April 20, 2022. <br />652 753 882 956 1087 <br />2609 2546 2243 2496 2602 <br />0 <br />500 <br />1000 <br />1500 <br />2000 <br />2500 <br />3000 <br />3500 <br />4000 <br />2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 <br />Permanent Housing Performance <br />Permanent Housing Permanent Supportive Housing