Latino-Hispanic Unsheltered Homelessness Before and After COVID-19

Abstract

Objectives. To identify sociodemographic shifts among unsheltered Latino people experiencing homelessness (PEH) between 2020–2022.

Methods. We examined differences in characteristics reported in demographic surveys for Latino PEH older than 25 years from 2020 (n = 1215) and 2022 (n = 1395) in Los Angeles County, California, using weighted bivariate χ² tests.

Results. From 2020 to 2022, there was a 25% increase in the number of unsheltered Latino individuals. The share of Latino PEH who were unemployed increased (57% to 67%). The increase in homelessness occurred largely among individuals living in vehicles (14% to 33%), rather than in tents or on sidewalks. Latino PEH were significantly less likely to report mental illness (24% vs 18%) and had higher rates of first entry into homelessness in the past 2 years than non-Latino respondents.

Conclusions. Our results are consistent with the effects of increasing socioeconomic vulnerability, likely related to COVID-19, in driving the increase in Latino PEH.

Policy Implications. The rise in homelessness among economically vulnerable yet healthy Latinos suggests a need to bolster social safety nets and increase homelessness prevention programs. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(S6):S510–S514. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2024.307717)

Over the past decade, the number of people experiencing homelessness (PEH) in Los Angeles County (LAC), California, has nearly doubled, surpassing 75 000 individuals in 2023.¹ The majority (75%) of these individuals were living in an unsheltered situation, such as on the streets, in vehicles, or locations “not meant for human habitation.”² While the Hispanic/Latino population has historically been underrepresented among those experiencing unsheltered homelessness, this trend, termed the “Latino Homeless Paradox,” appears to be shifting given the rise in Hispanic/Latino homelessness following the COVID-19 pandemic.^3,4 In 2019, Latino PEH made up 37% of the LAC homeless population, whereas in 2022 Latino PEH accounted for 44.5%, a figure closer to the overall 49% share of Latino individuals in the general LAC population.^5,6

This brief uses the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Point-In-Time (PIT) count⁷ to describe factors associated with the increase in Latino homelessness. Our analyses focus on the unsheltered adult population using data from 2020 (i.e., pre-COVID-19) and 2022 (i.e., post-COVID-19).

METHODS

The annual Homeless Count in LAC consists of 3 components: a PIT count of unsheltered individuals and dwellings, a demographic survey of exclusively unsheltered PEH, and a register of the single-night shelter population extracted from administrative databases.⁷ The PIT count is conducted each January by trained volunteers who perform visual counts of PEH and perceived dwellings (vehicles, tents, makeshift shelters) within each census tract in LAC.

The demographic survey is an annual pre- and post-enumeration survey collected from December through March. The demographic survey uses 2-stage stratified random sampling⁷ In the first stage, tracts are selected from 2163 tracts in LAC using a Neyman allocation method that stratifies tracts by geography and presumed density of the homeless population. The survey was conducted in 504 tracts in 2020 and 505 tracts in 2022. In the second stage, trained data collectors canvass selected tracts and interview PEH. Responses are further weighted to account for differential nonresponse in terms of interviewer-perceived race/ethnicity, sex, age, and impairment.

Our analysis focused on individual demographic survey respondents aged 25 years or older who self-identified as Latino, with comparisons to adults identifying as non-Hispanic (NH)-White, NH-Black, and NH-other. The unweighted 2020 and 2022 samples included 1215 and 1395 Latino respondents, respectively. The variables analyzed include gender, sexual orientation, employment status, health and socioeconomic risks, where they slept the previous night, and social program participation. Comparisons were conducted using $\chi$² tests with significance measured at P < .05.

RESULTS

In 2022, when compared with 2020, more Latino individuals reported having spent the previous night in a vehicle (33.0% versus 14.5%; P < .01) and fewer reported having spent the night outdoors (i.e., outdoor encampment, under a bridge, by riverbed, by bus stop) (76.8% versus 58.9%; P < .01). The shift toward vehicular homelessness was also significant among NH-Black and NH-White PEH, though the magnitude of the change was smaller. The share of Latino PEH reporting first-time homelessness was lower in 2022 (25.6%) than in 2020 (29.2%), but we note that rates of first-time homelessness were significantly higher for Latino PEH than for other groups in both years.

Table 1 compares the composition of unsheltered respondents within each racial/ethnic group between 2020 and 2022. In 2022, when compared with 2020, more unsheltered Latino individuals reported being unemployed (57.3% versus 66.7%; P < .001) and significantly fewer were unemployed and not looking for work (24.1% versus 13.6%; P < .05). Latino respondents reported less severe mental illness (24.5% versus 18.0%; P < .001) and difficulties with alcohol abuse (including long-term) in 2022, when compared with 2020 (27.7% versus 20.3%; P = .019). NH-White (26.1% versus 15.5%; P < .01) and NH-Black (25.4% versus 15.7%; P < .001) populations also experienced a decrease in the proportion reporting alcohol abuse, but the Latino population was unique in its significant decrease in the proportion reporting severe mental illness.

Table 1—

Change in Characteristics of Hispanic and Latino People Experiencing Homelessness vs Other Racial and Ethnic Groups: Los Angeles County, CA, 2020–2022

	Hispanic/Latino (Unweighted n = 2 610, Weighted n = 25 995)			NH-White (Unweighted n = 2 100, Weighted n = 17 059)			NH-Black (Unweighted n = 2 250, Weighted n = 15 967)			Other/Multiple (Unweighted n = 432, Weighted n = 3 098)
	2020,%	2022,%	Δ	2020,%	2022,%	Δ	2020,%	2022,%	Δ	2020,%	2022,%	Δ
Gender
Male	75.7	75.3		70.4	68.8		73.2	75.6		74.8	61.2	*
Female	22.6	21.5		28.4	28.8		24.9	21.3		24.3	36.1
Transgender	1.7	3.2		1.2	2.4		1.9	3.0		0.8	2.7
Sexual orientation
Straight	93.7	93.0	*	95.7	90.2	***	94.2	91.3	**	89.1	84.3
Gay or lesbian	2.5	2.6		1.1	4.3		3.0	3.5		3.1	4.9
Bisexual	2.5	4.1		2.5	4.2		1.4	4.4		4.5	8.8
Questioning	1.3	0.2		0.8	1.3		1.4	0.8		3.4	2.0
Employment status
Employed	18.6	19.7	***	13.6	14.0		10.6	16.3	***	14.1	14.0
Unemployed	57.3	66.7		56.5	63.1		56.0	62.3		63.1	61.9
Not in labor force	24.1	13.6		29.9	22.9		33.4	21.4		22.9	24.0
Health and socioeconomic risks
Jail history	66.9	61.5		69.0	66.8		69.1	64.7		64.5	75.8
Alcohol abuse	27.7	20.3	*	26.1	15.5	**	25.4	15.7	***	23.2	21.3
Substance abuse	44.9	45.0		43.6	37.7		39.7	35.6		34.4	49.7	*
Severe mental illness	24.5	18.0	*	35.2	32.0		35.2	35.8		36.0	42.8
Location slept previous night
Vehicle	14.5	33.1	***	16.2	27.9	**	16.4	22.9		15.0	21.5
Outdoors	76.8	58.9		77.3	62.4		78.5	70.4		78.6	74.3
First time experiencing homelessness	28.8	25.6		17.0	12.9		23.4	19.9		24.7	15.7
Benefits
Health insurance	15.9	15.3		16.9	18.0		18.1	14.5		18.9	23.0
CalFresh	39.1	33.1		38.7	44.9		39.0	44.4		29.3	48.4	***
General relief	25.2	24.1		31.6	30.0		31.0	30.8		22.3	24.4
SSI and SSDI	10.8	7.8		19.1	17.7		24.9	18.9		23.1	24.8

Note. NH = Non-Hispanic; SSDI: Social Security Disability Insurance; SSI: Supplemental Security Income.

Source. Los Angeles County Homeless Demographic Survey (2020, 2022).

*P < .05; ** P < .01; ***P < .001; significance of χ² test of difference.

In 2020, Latinos comprised 35% of the sheltered and 36% of the unsheltered PEH population. In 2022, Latinos made up 40% of the sheltered and 46% of the unsheltered population (Figure A, available as a supplement to this article at www.ajph.org). From 2020 to 2022, the Latino population experienced a 26% increase among the sheltered population and a 25% increase among the unsheltered. Growth was consistent across LAC (Figure B, available as a supplement to this article at www.ajph.org), with large increases in the Metro and Downtown areas.⁸

DISCUSSION

Given the rise in overall unsheltered numbers from 2020 to 2022, the shift in proportional distributions of Latino unsheltered homelessness does not indicate declines among NH-Black or NH-White unsheltered populations so much as stability among those groups combined with a sharp spike in Latino numbers. The important compositional differences among the Latino unsheltered population from 2020 to 2022 suggest that economic factors tied to COVID-19 may have driven this shift. The findings demonstrate that most of the growth in the unsheltered Latino population occurred among people who were either newly homeless, living in vehicles, employed or seeking employment, and not experiencing mental illness or alcohol abuse.

Factors that may have driven the increase in Latino homelessness include both that Latinos in California were among those most financially and socially impacted by the pandemic and were underrepresented among those obtaining rental assistance during this period.⁹ These structural factors may have eroded a cultural resiliency that could previously explain the Latino homelessness paradox, namely the rates of intergenerational homes among Latino households.⁴ In fact, a large decrease in the proportion of unhoused individuals who were out of the labor force indicates that homelessness occurred among Latinos who were actively working or seeking work. While higher levels of labor force participation could suggest that this cohort of newly unhoused Latino Angelenos may self-resolve, individuals would be doing so at a time of increased economic pressure, with median rents remaining at all-time high levels.¹⁰

This study had limitations. One limitation relates to the inherent uncertainties of the PIT count.¹¹ PIT counts tend to underrepresent those who briefly circulate in and out of homelessness. Given that such short-term episodes tend to be driven by economic factors, our estimates may underestimate the scope of Latino homelessness. Second, our results only reflect a single county. However, we do note that increases in LAC paralleled other parts of California (see Figure C, available as a supplement to this article at www.ajph.org). Finally, our results do not track the processes of entry into homelessness. While difficult to conduct, longitudinal cohort studies are needed to estimate the incidence and predictors of entry into homelessness.

POLICY IMPLICATIONS

Given our interpretation that the growth in Latino homelessness was driven by economic vulnerability, there is a need for prevention programs that target socioeconomic factors among the Latino population, including efforts to ensure a living wage, workforce training, and income supports. However, given the proportion of Latinos experiencing homelessness and the possibility of continued growth, there is also a need for culturally congruent homeless services outreach aimed at overcoming barriers to access and wariness of systems, along with programs that address concerns of individuals experiencing vehicular homelessness (i.e. safe parking programs). We note that Latinos were underrepresented in COVID-era emergency housing programs like Project Roomkey, which placed unsheltered PEH in empty hotel rooms.¹²

As we reflect on the disparate impacts of COVID-19 on various communities, it is important to consider targeted interventions and policies. The findings in this study build upon the limited research on Latino homelessness and invite future research on targeted interventions and culturally relevant practices to stop the influx of Latinos experiencing homelessness and ensure rapid rehousing.