(The Center Square) — The Regional Task Force on Homelessness in San Diego revised El Cajon’s most recent homelessness count after discovering it had included two dozen individuals who were outside the city’s region and possibly counted individuals twice.
When the RTFH, a nonprofit in charge of San Diego County’s annual homelessness census, released its 2025 annual Point-in-Time Count in May, El Cajon leaders publicly challenged the report, claiming it was strange the city was one of the county’s two regions where the homeless population grew. El Cajon leaders believed the city’s homeless population was decreasing and therefore, met with the RTFH to discuss the number. After discussions, the task force discovered it had miscounted and revised the number, according to Fox 5 News.
When the RTFH 2025 PIT Count was released, the organization claimed the county had “significant reductions” in veteran and family homelessness, resulting in a reduction of 7% in “region wide homelessness,” according to a post on X May 20.
The RTFH 2025 PIT Count reported, however, that El Cajon experienced a 21.6% increase in its homeless population from 2024 to 2025, with the city’s unsheltered homeless population growing from 283 people in 2024 to 344 people in 2025.
El Cajon Mayor Bill Wells said he was pushing for the task force to relook at the number reported for this year. He noted it was important for the city to have an accurate number in order to make effective policies addressing its homelessness.
“We, and most of every other city in California, especially the cities with a lot of low-income housing, have homeless problems,” Wells said in an interview with Fox 5 News that he reposted on X May 25. “But we want it to be accurate.”
The task force realized it had counted 24 people in unincorporated areas outside El Cajon’s city limits. That is because the organization conducts PIT Counts in areas that the census maps for El Cajon, and some of those areas are “outside of the city limits,” according to ABC 10 News.
Wells and other city leaders complained the PIT Count is flawed. However, the RTFH said it will continue to use it.
“We’ve said the Point-in-Time Count is an imperfect tool, but it is a vital one in helping us understand the scope of homelessness across our region,” Tamera Kohler, CEO of RTFH, said, according to FOX 5 News. “While it’s just one snapshot in time, the data informs how we plan, fund, and deliver services to those most in need.”
Although the RTFH plans on sticking to PIT Counts, the organization also said it plans to make some changes to the El Cajon data. One of them is changing “El Cajon” to “El Cajon (including unincorporated areas)” on the report sheets.