An exclusive CalMatters analysis of the latest California homeless count reveals some good news and bad news: Though the growth rate of homelessness appears to be slowing, the overall number of unhoused Californians increased from two years ago.

As CalMatters homelessness reporter Marisa Kendall explains, the data from the federally-mandated count that occurred in January shows that nearly 186,000 Californians live on the streets and in homeless shelters. 

That’s an 8% increase from the 181,000 people counted in 2022, the most recent year most counties in the state counted people living in encampments. And while any increase is discouraging given the billions of dollars California has spent to ease the crisis, the growth rate is smaller compared to years past, when the homeless population grew at least 13% every two years from 2015 to 2022.

Though this snapshot is important for guiding policy and determining how state and local funds are allocated, experts and advocates warn that the data should be taken with a healthy dose of skepticism. The actual number of homeless Californians is likely higher; not all counties conduct their counts the same year, making comparisons imperfect; and different counties have different approaches to the count (some send out volunteers to the streets, others use algorithms to estimate populations).

Given the caveats, there are still some illuminating takeaways:

• San Joaquin County: Homelessness doubled this year compared to the county’s 2022 count. Activists point to rising rents, but the county also changed its methodology this year.

• Sacramento County: The county saw the biggest drop in homelessness, falling 29% overall compared to its 2022 count. But it also changed the way it counted this year, switching to a data firm instead of researchers at Sacramento State University.

• San Diego: After passing an ordinance last year cracking down on encampments, the number of people sleeping outside without shelter increased 6% in the city compared to last year. But the number doesn’t classify sanctioned camps and safe parking sites as shelters, which Mayor Todd Gloria called “frustrating.” He told CalMatters he believes “the streets are better today than they were a year ago.”

Homelessness remains one of the state’s most intractable issues. The Public Policy Institute of California reports that since January 2021, homelessness has been consistently cited as one of the top three issues facing the state, and a February poll found that four in ten surveyed named economic conditions and homelessness as the top issues for state lawmakers to work on. Last month in a warning to counties to clear encampments, Gov. Gavin Newsom described the crisis as the “biggest scar in the reputation of the state of California.”

Read more about the latest point-in-time counts in Marisa’s story.

A string of sexual assaults in downtown Los Angeles shelters. A brutal murder in a motel transformed into emergency pandemic housing. Rats, roaches and garbage piling up in supposed safe havens.

What else is happening inside homeless shelters in California’s biggest city? 

CalMatters filed a lawsuit last week to find out, after the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority repeatedly denied our attempts to inspect shelter incident reports under California’s Public Records Act. The law allows the public broad access to governmental records. 

For eight months, CalMatters has sought to obtain the incident reports, which track major events at publicly funded shelters. Contractors hired to operate the facilities are supposed to use the reports to quickly document serious issues including deaths, contagious disease, suspected abuse and overdoses, according to the agency’s own website.

The agency has said that the reports fall under “attorney-client privilege” and are therefore exempt from the public records law. However, reports are typically created by contractors, not attorneys. CalMatters and its attorneys at Covington & Burling repeatedly asked for evidence that the reports are communicated to attorneys; the agency did not provide it.

To justify its claim, the agency cited a 1995 court ruling in City of Hemet v. Superior Court. The court ruled that police records could be kept secret to protect the privacy of police officers. LAHSA does not employ any police officers. 

“Therefore, it is unclear how the authority can claim that these records are exempt to protect the privacy of police officers,” the lawsuit states. Additionally, the Hemet case "makes clear that exempting (that is, hiding) large categories of public documents which happened to become ‘relevant’ to later litigation” is contrary to the Public Records Act, according to the suit.

The new CalMatters lawsuit comes amid a bigger reckoning over homelessness in the nation’s most populous state. California has spent more than $24 billion to address the issue over the past five years, a state audit found, only to fail to track most of the results.

As Gov. Newsom praises the state for distributing millions in the past fiscal year to shore up water systems, hundreds of thousands of Californians still do not have access to safe drinking water, reports CalMatters’ Rachel Becker.

On Monday, the governor said that the State Water Resources Control Board distributed about $880 million to fund various water projects, including projects that “expand access to safe drinking water and improve sanitation.” And currently, about 98% of Californians are served by water systems that meet state standards for safe and reliable drinking water.

But 386 water systems still fail to meet requirements, leaving more than 736,000 people without clean drinking water. About 600 other systems serving 1.6 million people are also “at risk of failure,” with Latino farm communities being disproportionately affected. 

Some residents told Rachel that they’ve become reliant on bottled water, and they have a longstanding fear of using tap water for drinking, bathing and brushing their teeth. In Pixley, located in the San Joaquin Valley and home to about 3,800 residents, the groundwater is contaminated by a chemical known as 1,2,3-TCP. The compound has been linked to cancers in animal studies, and people can be exposed by drinking it, cooking with it and breathing in its vapors. 

• Tequita Jefferson, a Pixley resident: “You’re pretty much playing Russian Roulette. … It scares me. All of it scares me.” 

Learn more about California’s water contamination issues in Rachel’s story.

Groundwater wars: The next CalMatters event is at noon Thursday, moderated by Rachel on the battle over California’s groundwater. Register here to attend virtually.

California’s latest wildfires flared over the weekend, forcing evacuations and destroying buildings. They are still burning largely out of control: The Bridge Fire in Los Angeles County, the Line Fire in San Bernardino County, and the Boyles Fire in Lake County. 

Gov. Newsom has declared a state of emergency for the Line fire, and on Monday deployed California National Guard crews, helicopters and planes to help San Bernardino County. So far this busier-than-usual season, 6,000 wildfires have burned nearly 890,000 acres, destroyed 1,250 structures but have only killed one person, according to Cal Fire. 

Check out CalMatters’ wildfire tracker for live updates on active fires, a FAQ and other information, and find out more in our updated explainer.

California Voices

CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: In August, a 2016 California ballot measure allowed a notorious serial rapist to be granted parole, but the Legislature quickly passed a bill to close that loophole.

Two views on Proposition 4, which would authorize the state to borrow $10 billion to respond to climate change, including $3.8 billion for drinking water and groundwater programs:

The measure would provide clean drinking water and help underserved communities, writes Horacio Amezquita, the former general manager of the San Jerardo Housing Cooperative.

The proposition will put taxpayers on the hook for billions in debt for short-term climate programs that are vaguely defined, writes Brian Jones, the state Senate’s Republican leader.