KEEPING PEOPLE IN THEIR HOMES MUST BE A TOP PRIORITY

This has been an exhausting year for all of us. Between the still-surging pandemic, an economic downturn, nationwide civil unrest and a contentious presidential election, many of us are relieved to be just weeks away from the new year. But for millions of families in San Diego and across the nation who are behind on their rent, threatening deadlines loom.

The federal eviction moratorium is set to expire on Dec. 31. California’s eviction moratorium expires on Jan. 31. We must keep up the pressure up on our federal officials, including the outgoing and incoming administrations, but, in the absence of their action, it is imperative that state and local governments step up to keep people in their homes.

As the senior director of public policy for the state’s largest nonprofit working to end homelessness, People Assisting the Homeless (PATH), I see clearly how gaps in our laws and regulations allow struggling people to slip into homelessness. Many often stay unhoused for months or even years.

In many cases, these eviction protections are all that stands between someone and the street. Compounding the danger, we are entering a wintertime window in which experts estimate the threat of COVID-19 will be its most severe.

Safeguards are possible, though. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention could work to extend the moratorium through the spring, allowing time for vaccines to be distributed to the vulnerable and for people to return to work. Alternatively, Congress could green-light more emergency stimulus and rental assistance. Many provisions in the Congress-passed HEROES Act could pad out families’ finances, both for renters and for landlords who rely on tenants for their income.

But the federal government’s dysfunction is well-documented. Our state and local officials must prepare for the increasing likelihood that no bill will be passed under this administration. There are existing mechanisms to protect people from losing their homes — and creative methods can extend protections until a more comprehensive federal bill can be passed.

On the state level, it’s encouraging to read about a proposal from Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, that would extend California’s eviction moratorium past Jan. 31. Back rent may exceed $1.7 billion by then, though the state’s surprise budget surplus could cover rent forgiveness for those who are struggling to make ends meet.

Our organization has also seen firsthand the success of Projects Roomkey and Homekey, California’s tidy solution to help unsheltered individuals and keep vacant hotels from failing. Officials should continue working to identify more eligible hotels to accommodate a predictable tidal wave of newly unsheltered individuals. Once individuals and families are sheltered, outreach workers can connect them with resources like health care, employment opportunities and permanent housing.

Additionally, ideas that were once considered unusual, such as the use of the San Diego Convention Center as a super shelter, should be further explored. This outside-the-box idea successfully housed over 800 San Diegans, and Mayor Todd Gloria’s recent extension is promising.

We should take a collective look at other public facilities that are sitting idle during the pandemic as a possible short-term solution to get more people off the street and connected to supportive services and housing.

And, critical to this moment, the funds for more Roomkey and Homekey sites exist already, through the CARES Act passed by Congress in March. State and local officials can and should devote every day before Dec. 31 to completing the regulatory procedures necessary to make sites available.

State and local officials can also help cover more people through the state’s eviction moratorium.

California’s moratorium requires renters to demonstrate a minimum income loss or medical bills. Compounding the institutional barriers, renters must file an official declaration to even qualify. How many renters — pressed for cash, juggling virtual school, making sense of new quarantine orders — are aware of the specific steps needed to avoid eviction?

Elected officials at every level should be using their public platforms to walk constituents through the process. Just as local government partnered with neighborhood organizations to promote the stay-at-home orders and the census count, similar collaborations could quickly elevate the profile of the state’s moratorium and bring more people under its protection. Media opportunities wouldn’t cost a dime, preserving those funds for relief efforts.

Whatever the course, we need our leaders at every level to step in immediately. By choosing not to act, we risk adding a new wave of unhoused individuals to our streets, further complicating our response to the pandemic and setting us further back in our efforts to address affordable housing and homelessness.

It’s the only way to put this strange year behind us as we move towards a vaccine and the next normal of a post-COVID-19 reality.

Schlagel