New state study suggests homelessness far undercounted in New Mexico
A homeless encampment in Española pictured in April 2024. A new Department of Health study released Wednesday determined a vast undercount of the state's homeless population by examining nearly 10 million anonymized patient records. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann / Source NM)
The number of people experiencing homelessness recently in New Mexico is two to four times higher than previous estimates, according to a new research paper from the state health department.
In findings researchers announced Wednesday, nearly 31,000 unhoused people, including 869 children under age 5, sought care at non-federal hospitals in New Mexico between 2019 and 2013. Researchers arrived at that number by analyzing certain fields within 10 million patient visit records, searching for patient addresses being listed as known homeless shelters or simply 'homeless,' among other indicators.
Quantifying the number of people who live on the streets in New Mexico is a 'pervasive' problem, the study notes. The annual 'point-in-time' count, which the federal Housing and Urban Development department requires for certain federal grants, is an undercount and can vary based on numerous factors.
But it's still considered an official count, and can be useful to detect trends, including huge increases in homelessness observed in Albuquerque and throughout the rest of the state in the most recent report.
Read the study here.
In what they described as a novel approach to counting the state's unhoused population, New Mexico Department of Health researchers Hayley Peterson and Dylan Pell determined that 30,882 patients experiencing homelessness visit hospitals nearly 183,000 times between 2019 and 2023, or nearly six visits each. The number of unhoused patients was about 8,000 in 2019 and hit a peak of a little more than 10,500 in 2022.
'Public health approaches that address infectious disease, environmental health, drug overdose, suicide and injury should include strategies to support [people experiencing homelessness] and promote stable housing,' said Miranda Durham, Chief Medical Officer for the Department of Health, in a news release. 'Health system interventions like screening for housing needs and linking people to housing services can have positive health impacts.'
The new report's numbers are far higher than the 'point-in-time' counts for those years. In 2022, for example, volunteers counted about 2,600 people in homeless shelters and on the streets. In 2019, they counted 3,241.
The counties with the highest numbers of unhoused patients were Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Doña Ana and San Juan, according to the report.
Amid funding cut threats and homeless camp sweeps, a volunteer loses hope but keeps counting
Two-thirds of the patients were male, according to the report. Nearly 40% were Hispanic, another 40% were white, and 15% were American Indian or Alaska Native in a state where about 12% of the total population is Native American.
A little over 2,100 of the people counted, comprising 7% of the people the researchers counted, were under age 18.
The researchers also examined medical diagnoses the patients received, finding the top 'comorbidity' along with homelessness, was alcohol-related disorders, with 17% of patients having that diagnosis. About 8% had a stimulant-related disorders, 7.1% had schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders and 4.8% were suicidal, among other common diagnoses, according to the report.
About 455 people were treated related to their pregnancy, a finding that indicates 'additional supportive housing needs for families during a vulnerable life stage,' researchers wrote.
The researchers determined that their method of counting and analyzing homelessness could help present a clearer picture of an issue that has long plagued the state.
'These findings bolster understanding of homelessness in New Mexico and demonstrate that statewide healthcare system data can be used to report homelessness and its comorbidities,' the authors write.
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