A state audit revealed that California invested about $24 billion over the last five fiscal years to address homelessnessreflecting the state’s urgent effort to stop the homeless crisis.
However, despite the figure, the number of the homeless population has also grown in California.
According to him United States Department of Housing and Urban Developmentit is estimated that 181,000 people were homeless in California in 2023, with an increase of 63,000 people in the last 10 years.
Keep reading: Norwalk reaffirms moratorium: risk of California lawsuit
Years of attention to the problem of homelessness
In fiscal year 2021-2022, when the homeless population was estimated to be 172,000 people, California invested $7.2 billion dollarsaround almost $42,000 dollars for each homeless person.
The amount includes housing and rental assistancephysical and mental health outreach, case management, and funds to purchase motels and other types of temporary housing.
In 2022, Governor Gavin Newsom threatened to withhold $1 billion in funding from cities and counties by criticizing his homelessness plans because they are considered inappropriate.
Keep reading: Chaos at MacArthur Park
State Executive Order
During the summer of 2024, Newsom ordered local governments to clear homeless encampments with the risk of losing state resources in 2025.
In a report released in April, the state auditor said the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) did a poor job accounting for homeless spending and tracking results.
“Cal ICH has also not aligned Your action plan to end homelessness with your legal goals to collect financial information and ensure accountability and results,” the Auditor’s office said.
Keep reading: Vote on hold: Santa Monica does not prohibit sleeping in public places
“We believe that those responsible for State policies and the public need updated information to evaluate the effectiveness and effectiveness of billions of dollars in state spending,” he added.
State of emergency in Los Angeles
On her first day in office, in December 2022, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency homelessness and launched the $250 million Inside Safe program.
The program spends tens of millions of dollars annually to programs that are intended to help homeless people obtain temporary and, eventually, permanent housing.
Keep reading: Plan to eradicate homeless encampments in Long Beach
Bass has highlighted isolated cases of success in eliminating homeless encampments in areas such as downtown Los Angeles and Hollywood. Additionally, he activated a directive to use public lands to build housing faster and eliminate RV campgrounds.
A city website that tracks the results of the Inside Safe program says that more than 21,000 people have been relocated indoors since December 2022, and more than 5,000 have found permanent housing.
Despite the numbers, critics question whether the money earmarked for this purpose It is actually providing positive results..
Keep reading:
· City of Long Beach could arrest homeless people
· Governor Newsom orders homeless people removed from California
· Homeless advocates criticize Supreme Court decision to uphold street sleeping ban