In its latest report, the task force found 994 people in San Diego County reported becoming homeless for the first time while 759 homeless people found some type of housing.
As with most months, the number of people who were housed found homes on their own.
There were 26,948 active clients in homeless programs throughout the county in December, up 2 percent from November.
The number of people connected to various homeless services traditionally is far greater than the number of homeless people counted annually on the street and in shelters.
While the trend that shows a growing number of homeless people is discouraging, December’s numbers were not as bad as other months.
The 759 who found housing was among the lowest over the past year, but not as bad as October 2021 or last July, when fewer than 700 people found housing.
Gary Warth has covered a variety of beats since 1989 and now covers the cities of San Marcos and Vista and homeless issues at The San Diego Union-Tribune.