Credit: Paul Wellman (file)

The number of homeless people who died in Santa Barbara County nearly doubled in the two years most recently tabulated by the county compared to the prior two, according to a report presented to the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. Translated into plain math, 143 homeless people — now officially dubbed people experiencing homelessness or “PEH” — died in 2019-2020; in 2017-2018, the total was 85. 

Most of the deceased — around 85 percent — were male; more than half were White, about 12 percent Latino, and 12 percent “Other/Unknown.” Of the 143 homeless people who died, 42 died outdoors, 53 in hospitals, and the rest in other indoor settings.

There was no discernable seasonality to the time of year most deaths occurred. Spring proved just as deadly as winter. Sixty-one percent of the deaths occurred in South County. 

In 2019-2022, 76 of the 143 decedents died from “natural causes,” 50 from accidental deaths, and 17 by suicide, murder, or causes unknown. In 2017-2018, there had been 17 overdoses. The leading cause of death for 2019-2020 cited in the report were overdoses of drugs and alcohol followed by cardiovascular disease, followed by suicide. In terms of underlying health issues, substance abuse and mental-health afflictions ranked at the top of the list. 

Those who died were well known to county health-care providers and the criminal justice system. In the 12 months prior to their deaths, 65 had visited the emergency rooms of county hospitals a total of 332 times, which averages about five visits per person. Seventy-three had been hospitalized 145 times, about twice per person. Sixty spent time in the county jail in the year of their death. Forty had received treatment from the Department of Behavioral Wellness and 57 from the Department of Social Services. 

After the supervisors received the report, no one from the public spoke. 

“The most striking thing was the average age of death,” said Supervisor Steve Lavagnino. “Fifty-four.” That compares starkly with the average age of death for county residents as a whole — 76 years old — during that same time span. “We’ve got a lot of work to do,” he added. 

The age-of-death gap is even starker still when comparing for death rates per 100,000, the report found. In 2016, the death rate for the county was 700 per 100,000; for PEH, it was 2,432. In 2020, the countywide death rate was 768 per 100,000; for PEH, it had jumped to 4,059. 

Supervisor Laura Capps — who’s under some heat by neighbors unhappy about a proposed homeless village slated for the old Juvenile Hall not far from Hollister and Modoc roads — said the latest death report underscores her sense of urgency about providing shelter. “It is literally a matter of life and death,” she said.

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