California should do more to address homelessness. Currently, California has more people experiencing homelessness (the homeless population) than any other state in the nation, and it does a poor job of sheltering this vulnerable population. According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) 2017 annual homelessness report to Congress (2017 homeless report), in January 2017 California had about 134,000 homeless individuals, which represented about 24 percent of the total homeless population in the nation.1 California also has the highest rate of unsheltered homeless: more than two‑thirds of California’s homeless are living in vehicles, abandoned buildings, parks, or on the street. Furthermore, 82 percent of California’s unaccompanied homeless youth are unsheltered; in contrast, 38 percent of unaccompanied homeless youth in the rest of the nation are unsheltered.
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