Gov. Newsom announces grants to tackle homeless encampments
SAN FRANCISCO, CA - JUNE 06: A homeless encampment is seen in Tenderloin District of San Francisco, California, United States on June 6, 2023. (Photo by Tayfun Coskun/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images)
SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday announced hundreds of millions of dollars in grant money to help local governments move people in homeless encampments on state property into temporary and permanent housing.
He also said new housing goals would be included in the next statewide planning cycle that will compel localities to build more housing for residents without any income or with very low income.
The moves are part of a continuation of an effort to create more housing options for people living in encampments, which courts have ruled can only be cleared when there is alternative shelter offered. Meanwhile, a U.S. Supreme Court case on Monday is challenging camping bans altogether, which could alter the state's strategy.
The grant awards come about a week after a report from the state auditor said the state is doing a poor job tracking the effectiveness of the money it spends on homelessness.
The governor announced the awards of $192 million from the state's $750 million Encampment Resolution Fund to 20 projects in 17 cities and counties, including several in the Bay Area and Central Coast. The Encampment Resolution Fund is a grant program to help local governments clear homeless encampments from state highways and other rights of way.
The funding will provide support for about 3,600 people, including 2,200 who will be placed in permanent housing, according to the governor.
Newsom blamed local jurisdictions for failing to gather adequate data on how the money was being spent but said the Encampment Resolution Fund was a success that he wanted to build on with new accountability measures in place.
The governor said during a virtual press briefing that a team of 22 staff members from the Department of Housing and Community Development will be dedicated to auditing and enforcing whether local governments are meeting their goals to reduce homelessness.
The Homelessness Accountability Unit will be modeled after the department's Housing Accountability Unit and will work more consistently with local jurisdictions on following through on plans to reduce the state's homeless population and provide services like mental healthcare. That, he said, will create better metrics for whether the state's housing and transitional programs are actually working.
Around the Bay Area and Central Coast, Marin County was awarded $18.2 million, San Mateo County was awarded $14.1 million, and Monterey County was awarded $11.1 million. The city of Oakland was given $7.2 million, while the city of Santa Cruz was given $4 million.
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The money can be used for a range of services and housing options to adhere to the state's goal of establishing continuums of care and housing options for the unhoused population in the city or county receiving the money.
The governor also said the next Regional Housing Needs Assessment cycle, known as RHNA, will include requirements for local jurisdictions to include housing options for people in income brackets between zero to 30% of area median income levels to provide more housing for people transitioning from being homeless or who are chronically homeless.
The next housing cycle, the seventh, will begin in July 2029.
The U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that encampments can only be cleared if housing is provided for those being displaced.
The U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case on Monday that has challenged blanket bans on camping in public. The case, Johnson v Grants Pass, challenges the ability of governments to enact camping bans, arguing that it amounts to cruel and unusual punishment if they have nowhere else to go.
Newsom filed an amicus brief in March asking the court to overturn the Ninth Circuit's decision, calling it too broad. Newsom said Thursday that it was "common sense" and "compassionate" to eliminate encampments because he said they create unsanitary and unsafe conditions.