Manteca’s effort committing a police officer with outreach groups as well as contracting with Inner City Action to work to try and get the homeless off the street appears to be working.

Manteca achieved a 41 percent reduction in homeless counted in the annual point of time count between 2019 and 2022. The count went from 218 in 2019 down to 129 in 2022.

Manteca had 88 homeless in 2017. That number increased by 148 percent to 218 in  2019. Back in 2011, the first time a count was taken, Manteca had 23 homeless.

Point in time counts using federal criteria were not conducted in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The counts are normally conducted every two years.

The point in time count is conducted to meet regulatory requirements for communities receiving a variety of funds from the federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to address homelessness.

The San Joaquin Continuum of Care conducted a Point-in-Time Count of both sheltered and unsheltered homeless persons during the last week of January 2022.

The unsheltered count is obtained by engaging volunteers to collect data at one “point in time” through surveys, observations, and supportive service events. The sheltered count is obtained through the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS).

No other city came close to what Manteca accomplished.

During the same time between the 2019 and 2022 period:

*Tracy went from 155 homeless to 124 for a 20 percent reduction.

*Stockton went from 921 to 893 for a 3 percent reduction.

*Lodi went from 139 to 208 for a 50 percent increase.

Back in 2017 there were 2,269 homeless in San Joaquin County. The number dropped to 1,558 in 2019. This year, the countywide homeless count was 1,354.

Among Manteca’s 129 homeless:

*70 percent were female.

*79 percent, based on race, were white.

*29 percent, based on ethnicity, were Hispanic.

*46 percent were chronically homeless.

*72 percent first became homeless in Manteca.

*12 percent first became homeless in another San Joaquin County community.

*17 percent first became homeless outside San Joaquin County.

*85 percent have been homeless for a year or  more.

*8 percent have been homeless less than a year.

*6 percent were homeless less than six months.

*3 percent were homeless for less than three months.

*14 percent had cash income.

*29 percent had non-cash benefits.
*64 percent had medical insurance.

*40 percent reported having substance abuse.

*26 percent reported have a mental health issue.

*25 percent reported having a pet.

*2 percent were between the ages of 18 and 24.

*7 percent were aged 62 and older.

*5 percent were veterans.

To contact Dennis Wyatt, email dwyatt@mantecabulletin.com