Homelessness among 18- to 24-year-old members of Generation Z rose more than 7% from 2023 to 2025 in Santa Barbara County—increasing from 426 to 457 individuals—the biggest jump among any subgroup.
And while homelessness overall fell 9% in that same time period, dropping from 4,990 individuals to 4,531, the number of unhoused Baby Boomers and members of Generation X also grew.
The tally of homeless people age 55 or older rose nearly 7%, from 1,631 to 1,743, according to the latest data presented Tuesday to the county Board of Supervisors.
The new report highlights success trends and underscores persistent challenges as officials and advocates explore solutions from Carpinteria to Lompoc and Santa Maria that include reinforcing the number of available shelter beds.
“Santa Barbara County needs low income elder care facilities, of which there are currently none,” said Jett Black-Maertz, county homeless assistance programs manager.
‘Artificial scarcity’
The numbers come as authorities are working to curb one social services practice likened to a game of chicken.
Organizations that work with the unhoused regularly compete to reserve beds so they can fast track needy individuals to area shelters, officials say.
But as many as 10% of those more than 900 emergency beds go unused on any given night.
“It’s creating this artificial scarcity,” Black-Maertz said in response to a question from Third District Supervisor Joan Hartmann.
“It allows them to say, ‘These are our beds. No one will go into these beds except for our clients, and we reserve the right to refer an individual to those beds,’” Black-Maertz said. “If an individual is not referred to that bed, it sits vacant for that evening, and so that means someone coming in off the street would not have access.”
A housing bottleneck
The revelations Tuesday came as part of an annual county update on homelessness trends. Officials focused on years that followed significant COVID-19 disruptions.
In one negative trend, people remained unhoused for 190 days—up 41% from 2023 to 2025—after entering programs designed to move them into a home. The data reflects an ongoing bottleneck in which housing seekers outnumber available housing options.
In a positive trend, homelessness among veterans decreased the most of any subgroup, falling 38.5% from 335 to 206 individuals. And homelessness among unaccompanied teenagers ages 13 to 17 also dropped significantly, from 87 to 64, or more than 26%.
Officials also looked at how many people live in vehicles across the county, with data available from “point-in-time” studies conducted on a single night each year. The number rose from 675 in 2022 to 962 in 2025, according to the county.
Eliminating encampments
During the last four years, the county has removed 1,300 homeless encampments, including 686 on county-controlled properties, officials said.
More than 900 people were offered services as a result, with 333 permanently housed.
Encampments are a big concern among her constituents, said Second District Supervisor Laura Capps.
“The more we build affordable housing, we will be preventing homelessness,” Capps said.
Fourth District Supervisor Bob Nelson, board chair, said gains in fighting homelessness come from a combination of social services outreach and the enforcement of laws that prohibit trespassing and sleeping in vehicles.
“Part of it is setting that bar and that expectation,” Nelson said. “It’s not… because we’re heartless, but because we want people to move toward services.”
In other news: solar power decision deferred
Elected officials in a separate move on Tuesday decided to delay decisions that would relax restrictions on large commercial solar power installations.
In a proposed ordinance years in the making, the county Board of Supervisors is considering whether to allow utility-scale commercial solar throughout the unincorporated county, including on certain agricultural lands.
While the board is close to a decision, members said Tuesday, remaining questions include how to safely handle battery storage facilities, and whether to cap—at 10,000 acres—the total amount of land allowed to be developed under the new rules.
Supervisors Capps and Hartmann expressed interest in having no cap.
Nelson said gauging impacts would help determine if the acreage total should someday be expanded beyond 10,000 acres.
“If it’s not that significant, and we’re just taking up pretty much land that doesn’t have a lot of productive use, and there’s a big demand out there, then I think the whole board will be open to going further,” Nelson said. “It’s an opportunity for us—at ten thousand, gosh, that’s a big number—to say, ‘Okay. How do we want to proceed?'”
With its decision still pending, the board will consider solar again on September 1.
