More aggressive plans sought on helping homeless
SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office says $1 billion in homeless funding that he announced he was withholding earlier this month could start flowing next week for local governments that agree to move more aggressively to get people off the streets.
City and county leaders from across California convened with administration officials in downtown Sacramento on Friday to discuss their plans.
Before the meeting began, 21 local government applicants had agreed to the administration’s request for more aggressive plans to reduce homelessness, Newsom spokesperson Erin Mellon said. The administration hopes that all the other jurisdictions sign on over the course of the meeting, she said. As part of the agreement, the local governments must commit to developing much more aggressive plans for the next round of funding.
Some governments will also need to make alterations to the plans they submitted to obtain the latest round of funding, Mellon said, particularly those that are on track to have large increases in homelessness or no changes, for the funding to be released.
Newsom’s office had required all cities, counties and regional homeless agencies called continuums of care to submit detailed plans to reduce homelessness to secure the state money. The plans submitted to his office would have collectively decreased homelessness in California by only 2%, according to numbers released by his administration, which would bring the state’s homeless population from about 113,000 to 111,000 by 2024.
That would be unacceptable, Newsom said. Some regions’ plans would not have decreased the unsheltered homeless population at all. For example, the Sacramento region would actually see a 71% increase in unsheltered homelessness under its plans by 2024, according to data from the Newsom administration.
Alameda County, including Oakland and Berkeley, planned for a 28% increase. Richmond and Contra Costa plans would result in a 20% increase.
Other area plans, like Marin’s, would result in no decrease at all.
San Francisco’s plans would result in a 3% decrease.
Newsom’s decision to withhold funds drew condemnation from some Bay Area leaders this month, including Oakland Mayor Libby Schaaf and San Francisco Mayor London Breed, who said taking money away from local governments won’t help the state solve its worsening homelessness crisis.
Schaaf and Breed did not RSVP to attend the meeting Friday, but representatives from their cities did, according to a list provided by Newsom’s office.