{"id":57902,"date":"2023-05-12T10:59:23","date_gmt":"2023-05-12T17:59:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=57902"},"modified":"2023-05-12T10:59:23","modified_gmt":"2023-05-12T17:59:23","slug":"new-public-health-report-shows-sharp-rise-in-mortality-among-people-experiencing-homelessness","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lapost.us\/?p=57902","title":{"rendered":"New Public Health Report Shows Sharp Rise in Mortality Among People Experiencing Homelessness"},"content":{"rendered":"

Increase Driven by Fentanyl-Related Deaths, Traffic Deaths, and Homicides\u00a0<\/em>\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The\u00a0Los Angeles County Department of Public Health\u00a0has\u00a0released\u00a0its\u00a0fourth\u00a0annual report on mortality among\u00a0people experiencing homelessness\u00a0in Los Angeles\u00a0County.\u00a0The\u00a0mortality\u00a0rate, which accounts\u00a0for\u00a0the total number of\u00a0people experiencing homelessness\u00a0each year, increased by 55%,\u00a0from\u00a02,056 per 100,000\u00a0in\u00a02019 to\u00a03,183 per 100,000\u00a0in\u00a02021, the\u00a0most recent\u00a0years of data analyzed in this report.<\/p>\n

In 2019, 1,289 people experiencing homelessness died. This number increased to 1,811 in 2020 and 2,201 in 2021.<\/p>\n

Leading causes of death<\/strong><\/p>\n

Drug overdose\u00a0was, as in 2019,\u00a0the leading cause of death\u00a0for people experiencing homelessness, accounting for 37% of all deaths\u00a0among unhoused individuals\u00a0in 2020 and 2021\u00a0combined\u00a0\u2014about\u00a0two deaths\u00a0per day on average.\u00a0Drug overdose\u00a0was\u00a0also\u00a0the\u00a0largest driver of the overall increase in mortality\u00a0for people experiencing homelessness, with\u00a0the\u00a0overdose\u00a0mortality rate doubling from 2019 to 2021.<\/p>\n

The second leading cause of\u00a0death\u00a0continues to be\u00a0coronary heart disease,\u00a0although\u00a0the\u00a0coronary heart disease\u00a0mortality rate\u00a0decreased in 2021 after increasing from 2017 to 2020.\u00a0\u00a0Coronary heart disease deaths accounted\u00a0for\u00a014% of all deaths among persons experiencing homelessness\u00a0in 2020 and 2021\u00a0combined\u2013 about\u00a05\u00a0deaths per week on average.<\/p>\n

The third leading cause\u00a0of death was traffic injuries,\u00a0which\u00a0increased by 47% from 2019 to 2021, accounting for 8% of all\u00a0deaths of\u00a0people experiencing homelessness\u00a0in 2020 and 2021 combined\u00a0\u2014about\u00a03\u00a0deaths\u00a0per week\u00a0on average.<\/p>\n

The homicide rate, which has\u00a0risen\u00a0among people experiencing homelessness since 2017,\u00a0increased\u00a0by 49%\u00a0in 2021\u00a0compared to the previous year.\u00a0Homicides were the\u00a0fourth\u00a0leading cause of death in\u00a02020 and\u00a02021\u2014about 2\u00a0deaths per week on average.<\/p>\n

COVID-19, the second leading cause of death\u00a0for all residents\u00a0in LA County in 2020 and the leading cause\u00a0of death\u00a0in 2021,\u00a0was\u00a0the fifth leading cause of death among\u00a0people experiencing homelessness\u00a0for both of those years.<\/p>\n

Overdose deaths<\/strong><\/p>\n

Overdose\u00a0mortality\u00a0rates are\u00a0higher among\u00a0white\u00a0people experiencing homelessness\u00a0than Black and Latinx\u00a0people experiencing homelessness, and\u00a0higher\u00a0among male versus female\u00a0people experiencing homelessness.\u00a0From 2019 to 2020\u00a0overdose\u00a0rates increased\u00a0substantially\u00a0across all three\u00a0racial\/ethnic\u00a0groups\u00a0and among both men and women,\u00a0but\u00a02021 saw a\u00a0continued\u00a0sharp rise\u00a0only\u00a0among\u00a0white\u00a0people experiencing homelessness\u00a0and male\u00a0people experiencing homelessness. In contrast,\u00a0the\u00a0overdose mortality\u00a0rate\u00a0among Black\u00a0people experiencing homelessness\u00a0slowed in 2021 and\u00a0leveled\u00a0off among Latinx and\u00a0female\u00a0people experiencing homelessness.<\/p>\n

Fentanyl\u00a0has been\u00a0the drug type driving\u00a0overdose\u00a0deaths since the start of the pandemic, with the percentage of\u00a0overdose\u00a0deaths involving fentanyl almost tripling from 20% in 2019 to 58% in 2021.\u00a0Fentanyl deaths almost always involved combinations of drugs. In 2021, 71% of all\u00a0fentanyl deaths among\u00a0people experiencing homelessness\u00a0also involved methamphetamine.<\/p>\n

Mortality rates\u00a0of people experiencing homelessness compared to the\u00a0general LA County\u00a0population<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the combined years of 2020 and 2021,\u00a0the mortality rate among\u00a0people experiencing homelessness\u00a0was 3.8 times greater than that of LA County\u00a0residents. This represents a widening of the mortality gap since the\u00a0three-year\u00a0period prior to the pandemic\u00a0when the mortality rate for people experiencing\u00a0homelessness\u00a0was\u00a02.9\u00a0times greater.<\/p>\n

In 2020-21,\u00a0overdose mortality was 39 times greater among\u00a0people experiencing homelessness\u00a0when compared to LA County residents.\u00a0Traffic injury\u00a0and homicide mortality were, respectively, 20 and 15 times greater among\u00a0people experiencing homelessness\u00a0during the first\u00a0two\u00a0years of the pandemic, than among all other county residents.\u00a0When comparing mortality rates for all the leading causes of death, the smallest gap was observed for COVID-19, with\u00a0people\u00a0experiencing homelessness\u00a0dying at 1.8 times the rate of the general population.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have declared a state of emergency in Los Angeles County because there are far too many people on our streets,” said\u00a0Supervisor Hilda Solis<\/strong>,<\/strong>\u00a0co-author of the 2019 motion addressing rising homeless mortality. “The findings in this report reflect the urgency with which we must work to protect the most vulnerable among us. Each of the 2,201 unhoused people who died in 2021 was someone’s friend, family, and loved one and we must redouble our efforts to address this crisis. As part of our response, it is critical that we address the drug epidemic, particularly the rise of fentanyl on our streets. We must continue to ensure that harm reduction tools and services, such as naloxone, are widely available and accessible to our unhoused residents.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a tragedy upon a tragedy,\u201d said\u00a0Supervisor Janice Hahn<\/strong>,<\/strong>\u00a0Chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. \u201cPeople are dying on our streets and this report only underscores how important it is that we continue to treat the homelessness crisis with a sense of urgency and move as many people as possible inside so we can begin to save their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis report underscores the enormous destruction fentanyl is causing our communities. To know that people experiencing homelessness are 39 times more likely to die of a drug overdose compared to the overall population of LA County is yet another painful reminder of the harm our unhoused neighbors experience, and why we must continue to move with urgency to address the crisis on our streets,\u201d said\u00a0Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath<\/strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cWe need to get people inside, in treatment, and supported with wraparound services. We also need to expand the availability of Narcan for all who serve the public to use as a vital, life-saving tool.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe data from this report quantifies what we already intuitively know to be true: more people experiencing homelessness on our streets are suffering and dying,\u201d said\u202fSupervisor Kathryn Barger<\/strong>.<\/strong>\u00a0\u201cSubstance abuse is many times an attempt to mask and escape trauma. Our homeless are fighting a losing battle and need help. They aren\u2019t going to heal themselves without proactive support. I am focused on increasing the County\u2019s capacity to deploy outreach teams equipped with the expertise to lift people out of their addictions. I also believe federal and state law changes are needed, so we can provide more mental health treatment beds and increase our ability to operate them. The County\u2019s role is to provide services and we need to answer that call, without barriers or hesitation.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing homeless has always been associated with a greater risk of death; in this report,\u00a0we see how big the mortality gap is between those housed and unhoused. For every leading cause of death in LA County, unhoused individuals are between 2 and 40 times more likely to die than those not experiencing homelessness.\u00a0 And with more than\u00a0one\u00a0out of every three deaths among people experiencing homelessness attributed to drug overdose, urgent action is needed\u00a0to ensure that\u00a0unhoused\u00a0individuals with substance use disorder have access to treatment and harm reduction services that meet people where they are,\u201d\u00a0said\u00a0Barbara Ferrer,<\/strong>\u00a0Ph.D., M.P.H., M.Ed., Director of the Los Angeles County Department of Public Health.\u00a0\u201cMoving forward, we\u00a0need to\u00a0recognize that people who are unhoused need both housing and services to\u00a0reduce their risk of death,\u00a0and for us to close the distressing mortality gaps, policy and system changes are in order.\u201d<\/p>\n

Data used<\/strong><\/p>\n

This new report uses data from the 2022 homeless count (suspended in 2021 due to the pandemic) to resume\u00a0the\u00a0estimation of trends in mortality rates. It also uses\u00a0a variety of data from 2021.\u00a0Data\u00a0from 2022\u00a0will be presented in January 2024.<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/strong><\/p>\n

The County\u2019s plan for\u00a0preventing\u00a0future homeless deaths\u00a0includes:<\/p>\n