
Newsom antes up $827M for housing, homelessness funding
Alan Riquelmy
LOS ANGELES (CN) — Sirens wailed Tuesday morning in Skid Row as California Governor Gavin Newsom discussed homelessness.
He said state officials know how the public perceives the issue. Despite the progress he said is happening, people are frustrated.
“No one is naïve about the challenges that we face,” Newsom said.
Flanked by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass at the Downtown Women’s Center, Newsom announced $827 million in the form of 37 grants to over 100 communities and organizations across California. The money comes from Round 5 of the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention grant program, called HAPP. It can go toward several solutions, including housing, shelters and support services.
Newsom called the grant program part of a larger strategy, pointing to facilities like the women’s center that help comprise a continuum of care in communities that offers a holistic approach to solving homelessness.
The governor also highlighted what he called transparency and accountability measures. Grant recipients must report monthly progress on the money spent, information that will be publicly available online. Additionally, the state must receive quarterly documentation about the outcomes of programs stemming from the grants.
“This is a crisis and it requires a crisis mindset,” the governor said. “We can’t conduct business as usual. People are dying on our watch.”
Bass, whose city is receiving some $160 million in HAPP funds, called the program critical to reducing homelessness. The greater Los Angeles region is slated to receive some $380 million in funding.
Comprehensive support — meaning not only different agencies but also different levels of government getting involved— is essential to success, Bass said.
“For the first time in years, homelessness is down,” Bass said of her city.
A handful of public officials and women’s center workers also pointed to the need for collaboration in the fight against homelessness.
LA County Supervisor Hilda Solis, whose county will receive almost $100 million in HAPP funds, pointed to a conversation she had two years ago with center workers. They reached out with a plan to house all homeless women living in Skid Row.
Solis said she helped secure $14 million in state encampment resolution funding — used to offer services to homeless people living in encampments. She also tapped into $3 million of her discretionary funds.
She said there’s been a significant decrease in the number of homeless women over the past few years.
The women’s center has a 98% housing retention rate, said Myong Kim, the center’s chief program officer.
“Homelessness is solvable,” Kim added.
Nancy, who didn’t give her last name, is one of the people the center has helped. Saying she once was homeless and an addict, Nancy has used center programs to build life skills and become an advocate and survivor.
“I’m often asked, do we know what to about homelessness and the answer is ‘yes,’” said Tomiquia Moss, the state’s secretary of the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency.
The HAPP program, along with California’s efforts to combat homelessness, has come under fire. An April audit by the Legislative Analyst’s Office found that the state authorized some $24 billion for housing and homelessness from fiscal years 2018-19 to 2022-23. However, in 2023 there were 180,000 more California residents who were homeless than in 2013, a rise of 53%.
Issues like that led the state to implement tighter accountability and transparency measures, which Newsom pointed to Tuesday. He said that, in the initial program, the state provided little oversight to the dollars it sent to local governments. That’s changed.
“We are addressing those rightful concerns that are being expressed,” Newsom said.
Newsom on Tuesday also mentioned Round 6 of HAPP funding, approved in June by the Legislature, as an additional $1 billion waiting in the wings. Those dollars will have an even greater level of accountability measures attached to them, he said.
Newsom’s original budget had no money for Round 6. However, lawmakers included it in their version of the budget.
Some Republicans expressed doubt as to the success of the state’s efforts to solve homelessness.
“This will *definitely* do the trick,” Assemblymember Joe Patterson, of Rocklin, posted on X, indicating he was being sarcastic. “Especially after vetoing two accountability measures to ensure the state doesn’t light $24 billion more on fire.”