Black San Diegans make up 28% of the homeless population in the region even though they only represent 5% of the overall population. This is the result of historical, systemic, pervasive racial discrimination and ongoing inequity in our nation and community. Conducting quantitative data analysis will not have a meaningful and data driven solutions for this rooted problem. Even the qualitative data analysis facilitated by internal parties may have its own biases.

This session will focus the steps San Diego Continuum of Care took in responding to the disparity in the homeless crisis response by exploring the factors contributing to disparities among people who are black experiencing homelessness, listening and engaging in extensive public dialogue with community stakeholders, and developing a series of recommendations that the Continuum of Care can take to better address the impacts of systemic racism and its effects within the homeless crisis response system.

The session will also highlight the key partnership with Equity in Action in providing technical support through the entire process and our partnership with Center for Budget and Policy Priorities in deeper analysis of our data.