Nearly 200 Sacramento County homeless residents die in 2021
The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office reported the highest number of deaths in the regions history.
SACRAMENTO COUNTY, Calif. — The Sacramento County Coroner’s Office recently reported the rise in deaths of unhoused residents from 137 in 2020 to 199 in 2021, noting that it was not the same annual incremental increases they’ves before.
Since 2002, the number of unhoused residents dying in the county has increased annually by the single digits. But in 2016, the number went from 71 to 124 the next year, and the rate has been over 100 deaths a year since.
Officials said nearly half of deceased unhoused residents they examined in 2021 died because of drug abuse, as compared to only 3% of the general population dying from drug overdose or poisoning.
“Causes of death among the unhoused population vary, but overwhelmingly, the causes are unnatural—death by substance use, vehicular or homicide,” according to a news release from Sacramento County. “Decedents were overwhelmingly male, and there was a disproportionate number of Black and Hispanic deaths compared to the overall homeless population demographics.”
Deaths reported at hospitals where the patient died of natural causes, or under the care of hospice physicians were not included in the recent report.
To combat the increasing number of unhoused residents dying on the streets, Sacramento County officials say they are working on several initiatives, including:
- $10 million for 156 beds to accommodate substance use disorder treatment residents
- $7.5 million in Mental Health Services Act (MHSA) funds and federal match for additional Full Service Partnerships
- $5 million for behavioral health crisis stabilization units required in MediCal
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