Homelessness in New Mexico

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Small homeless encampment in the troubled International District, Albuquerque in December 2022. Abqhumless.png
Small homeless encampment in the troubled International District, Albuquerque in December 2022.

Homelessness is a serious issue throughout the state of New Mexico. Through a demographic examination it becomes evident that New Mexico has a high proportion of ethnographies that are currently and historically socioeconomically disadvantaged. [1] Native Americans as a proportion of the US population represent the second highest amongst all States with only Alaska having a higher ratio, while it also has a large Hispanic population. Homelessness is a direct cause from an individual not being able to provide themselves with the most basic of necessities to maintain a healthy life hence having a higher proportion of individuals in poverty places a greater risk of an individual becoming homeless.

Contents

New Mexico's homeless population is largely concentrated in Albuquerque, although homeless populations generally exist on a marginally lower scale in Santa Fe and Las Cruces.

New Mexico's homeless population peaked in 2020, where it hit 3,300, roughly less than 0.2% of the state's population. This figure declined since then; however, statistics on homelessness are often inaccurate due to miscounts because of COVID-19, or the count being done in the wintertime, where fewer homeless are outside in public to be counted.

Albuquerque’s homeless population is 2,400, almost half a percent of the city’s population, from a 2022 count. [2]

Cost and utilization of services

According to a 2018 Las Cruces-based study into cost of homelessness on the state government of New Mexico concluded that, on a per nightly basis, emergency shelter costs $30; supportive housing $33, state penitentiary $77, Santa Fe County Detention Centre $82, St Vincent Hospital $550 and UNM Hospital $716. [3] Homelessness by and large is caused by or as a result of health care complications.[ citation needed ] One need only consider ailments such as addiction, psychological disorders, HIV/AIDS and an array of other ailments that require consistent long-term care that cannot be well managed in an unsafe, unpredictable environment that confronts most homeless.

Inability to adequately manage these medical problems places a further economic burden on the state as the frequency and duration of hospital visits may increase. This phenomenon is evidenced by the fact that on average homeless spent four days longer than comparable non-homeless, costing the State approximately $2,414 per hospitalization. Homelessness causes both serious mental and physical anguish as evidenced by the fact that a homeless person's psychiatric hospitalization rate is 100 times more than their non-homeless compatriot.[ citation needed ]

Loitering and panhandling laws

Due to New Mexico's strong laws against loitering, sleeping in cars and begging (traits a lot of homeless people are forced to do) they are disproportionately over-represented in the prison system. Police officials can accuse any person they believe may have attempted to disrupt the peace, regardless of whether or not the offense presents danger to the community. Panhandling is an umbrella term that represents begging, sponging and spanging. In the state of New Mexico there are strict regulations on panhandling. Moreover, homeless people are prohibited to beg after dark and if they do they are often sent to jail. In an attempt to remove homeless people from the streets, it is common for the police to dispose of their property. The above conditions cause the mere act of being homeless to become a self-perpetuating cycle of crime.[ citation needed ]

Albuquerque/Bernalillo County

Albuquerque has 4-5,000 homeless people, much of whom are concentrated off Central Avenue in the International District. The International District, nicknamed the War Zone, is the center of Albuquerque's homelessness and crime issues. In 2009, residents who resented the War Zone name persuaded city leaders to officially re-brand the area as the International District, highlighting its diverse community rather than crime. [4] The first International Festival was held later that year. [5] Despite these changes, crime has continued to be an issue in the neighborhood. In 2017, the Journal reported that it was "the most violent place in the city in the past three years and is home to both victims and suspects." Between 2014 and 2016, 10% of addresses in the neighborhood reported a violent crime, and 25% reported a property crime. One business in the neighborhood reported 98 violent crimes during that period. [6] In 2018, the International District was ranked as the worst neighborhood in New Mexico for the health and well-being of young children. [7]

Like many major American cities, Albuquerque has struggled with a homelessness issue that became more visibly problematic since the 2000s. According to Rock at Noon Day, a homeless services center, there were an estimated 4-5,000 homeless living in the Albuquerque metropolitan area as of 2019. Albuquerque Public Schools spokeswoman Monica Armenta said the number of homeless kids enrolled in district schools, meaning children from families that have no permanent address, has consistently ranged from 3,200 to 3,500. The Coordinated Entry System, a centralized citywide system that the city uses to track and fill supportive housing openings when they become available, shows that about 5,000 households experienced homelessness last year. The International District, off Central Avenue, has a serious issue with blight and homelessness. Fentanyl and methamphetamine use is visible and a serious social issue in the International District, as well as some areas adjacent to Nob Hill and Downtown. [8]

Count

Due to the 2012 Point in Time count taking place in January, where weather, while sunny and dry, is still frigid and cold, the number of homeless individuals on the streets and to be visibly seen is lower than what would counted in the autumn, spring or summertime. According to the nonprofit homeless rights and services coalition, The New Mexico Coalition to End Homelessness says there were more than 1,300 people living on the streets of Albuquerque (0.3% of the city's population) in January 2022, but according to their more recent data that number has grown. The nonprofit says that number has grown to more than 2,800 homeless people with 21% or more than 600 of them coming from outside of the state. [9]

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Mexico</span> U.S. state

New Mexico is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is one of the Mountain States of the southern Rocky Mountains, sharing the Four Corners region of the western U.S. with Utah, Colorado, and Arizona, and bordering Texas to the east and southeast, Oklahoma to the northeast, and the Mexican states of Chihuahua and Sonora to the south. New Mexico's largest city is Albuquerque, and its state capital is Santa Fe, the oldest state capital in the U.S., founded in 1610 as the government seat of Nuevo México in New Spain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albuquerque, New Mexico</span> City in New Mexico, United States

Albuquerque, also known as ABQ, Burque, and the Duke City, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of New Mexico. Founded in 1706 as La Villa de Alburquerque by Santa Fe de Nuevo México governor Francisco Cuervo y Valdés, and named in honor of Francisco Fernández de la Cueva, 10th Duke of Alburquerque and Viceroy of New Spain, it served as an outpost on El Camino Real linking Mexico City to the northernmost territories of New Spain. In 2006, the city celebrated its 300th anniversary.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Las Cruces, New Mexico</span> City in New Mexico, United States

Las Cruces is the second-largest city in the U.S. state of New Mexico and the seat of Doña Ana County. As of the 2020 census the population was 111,385. Las Cruces is the largest city in both Doña Ana County and southern New Mexico. The Las Cruces metropolitan area had an estimated population of 213,849 in 2017. It is the principal city of a metropolitan statistical area which encompasses all of Doña Ana County and is part of the larger El Paso–Las Cruces combined statistical area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Skid row</span> Impoverished urban area in North America

A skid row, also called skid road, is an impoverished area, typically urban, in English-speaking North America whose inhabitants are mostly poor people "on the skids". This specifically refers to people who are poor or homeless, considered disreputable, downtrodden or forgotten by society. A skid row may be anything from an impoverished urban district to a red-light district to a gathering area for people experiencing homelessness or drug addiction. In general, skid row areas are inhabited or frequented by impoverished individuals and also people who are addicted to drugs. Urban areas considered skid rows are marked by high vagrancy, dilapidated buildings, and drug dens, as well as other features of urban blight. Used figuratively, the phrase may indicate the state of a poor person's life.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">International District, Albuquerque, New Mexico</span> Neighborhood of Albuquerque in Bernalillo, New Mexico, United States

The International District is a neighborhood in southeast Albuquerque, New Mexico. It is centered on Central Avenue, the historic alignment of U.S. Route 66, and contains the New Mexico State Fairgrounds. The community is one of the most diverse areas of the city and is home to a large number of international restaurants and grocery stores, as well as the city's "Little Saigon" Vietnamese enclave. It is also one of the poorest areas in the city and has an extremely high violent crime rate. Although re-branded by city officials as the International District in 2009, Albuquerque residents continue to refer to the neighborhood by its longtime nickname, The War Zone.

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References

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  2. "This year's point in time count identified 2,394 people experiencing homeless in ABQ, according to organizers". Albuquerque Journal.
  3. "City of Las Cruces 10 Year Plan to End Homelessness".
  4. "'International District' Official". Albuquerque Journal. March 6, 2009. Retrieved April 25, 2018 via Newspapers.com.
  5. Keller, Tim (July 4, 2014). "History of Albuquerque's International District". Green Fire Times. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  6. "Southeast crime zone has 6.7% of city's population, 27% of murders". Albuquerque Journal. August 14, 2017. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  7. Linthicum, Leslie (February 18, 2018). "This is home: Stories from one of Albuquerque's toughest neighborhoods". Las Cruces Sun-News. Retrieved April 25, 2018.
  8. Nathanson, Rick (August 2019). "Annual count shows city's homeless numbers' up". Albuquerque Journal .
  9. Gonzales, George (September 9, 2022). "Data shows Albuquerque's homeless population is coming from out of state". KRQE.