Homelessness in Tuolumne County: What's To Blame?

Tuolumne County is a rural county in the mountains of California with a population of about 54,000. It is mostly white and overwhelmingly conservative. More than 15 percent of the populace lives below the poverty line, higher than the national average. And by 2013 estimates, there were about 360 homeless individuals in the county, mostly residing in camps. This was especially concerning to me when I wrote an article about it for my school newspaper two years ago, given that many of these individuals have an extremely tough time in the winter, when temperatures drop below freezing and snow is frequent.

I set out to discover the reasons why homelessness happened to folks in Tuolumne County specifically, but what I found was many generalizable societal factors than can be interpreted in a sociological way. Even more interesting, I found that some members of the law enforcement community, a group that frequently interacts with the homeless population, did not entirely understand the reasons that these individuals were in their present situation.

In conducting interviews, I talked to Patrol Sergeant Hunt, who worked at the Tuolumne County Sheriff’s Office. He gave me some general information about how the homeless generally deal with harsh weather conditions, but he also had an interesting perspective about the reasons folks in Tuolumne County are experiencing homelessness. When I asked about the causes, he said, “Homeless up here decide to be homeless. [They] don't want to spend their welfare… [on] rent. The majority of the homeless have alcohol or substance abuse [issues]. It seems like it's getting worse [because of ] how easy it is to get welfare in California. They are a huge drain on society, financially.” I did not conduct extensive community interviews, but because I have lived there my whole life I have reason to believe that this view is not uncommon in the county.

I was very intrigued by this assertion, and I wondered if data would tell a different story. I did not interview any homeless individuals by request of my advisor, but I did find some statistics that told a different story than Sergeant Hunt did. According to responses of homeless individuals in the county, only 34 percent were diagnosed with alcohol or substance abuse issues, a far cry from the claims Hunt made. Twenty-eight percent were victims of domestic violence, and 23 percent were diagnosed with severe mental health issues, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), or Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI). Dr. Todd Stolp, former Public Health Officer for Tuolumne County, also said that a majority became homeless in part because a lack of medical insurance caused many to fall into deep debt after accidents.

Many members of the homeless population, 73 to be exact, were children and minors. Mrs. Burke, a counselor at my high school who often worked with homeless youth, detailed the reasons many of these students do not have a place to live. She cited homes where substance abuse is present, making it difficult for youth to feel stable or secure. She explained to me that there are many obstacles to living on one’s own under the age of the 18 without parental support in Tuolumne County, mainly because access to a car is essential in order to maintain employment, and most youth can’t afford a car without a job or money from their parents. Without a job, they have few options: turn themselves in to foster care and resign all autonomy, try to live with relatives in exchange for household chores or other work, or live on the streets. Many youth who experience familial strife make an effort to become emancipated from their parents, which means to become legally responsible for oneself as a minor. However, the requirements for emancipation include having a job, stable housing, transportation, and parental consent, and without access to these things emancipation is out of reach for many of these youth.

Clearly, the sociological reasons behind homelessness in Tuolumne County are complex and numerous, and they are arguably entirely different from the perspective Sergeant Hunt gave me. I think it is very important to break down these attribution errors and strive to find underlying reasons for phenomena. A core tenant of sociology is to try to see life events (ie, a person becomes homeless) not as something unique to that person (they simply didn’t try hard enough) but rather broader social phenomena (the lack of transportation systems in Tuolumne County makes it difficult for many people to provide for themselves). I believe to truly understand patterns in society we must break down misinformed opinions and work harder to shed light on the deeper reasons behind a situation so we can go about remedying it in an effective way.

Sources:

2013 Tuolumne County Community Data Report

Data Sources - First 5 Tuolumne County

In-person interviews

Dr. Todd Stolp, Sergeant Hunt, Mrs. Burke and others not mentioned here