California’s Homeless Crisis Getting Worse after State Spends Billions in an Attempt to Improve Conditions

Skid Row in Los Angeles, Calif., on June 9, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

California’s homeless crisis is getting worse as the state has spent $17.5 billion in an attempt to decrease the state’s homeless population over the past four years, as the state’s homeless population has grown.

Federal data from 2018 to 2022 shows the increase of  Americans living outside on the streets in California, which has one of the highest rates of homelessness, more than any other state, with about 170,000 unhoused people living there.

“The problem would be so much worse, absent these interventions,” Jason Elliott, senior adviser on homelessness to Gov. Gavin Newsom, told CNN. “And that’s not what people want to hear. I get it; we get it.”

California Governor Gavin Newsom discusses the state's plan for homelessness initiatives in Los Angeles, Calif., on Sept. 29, 2021. (John Fredricks/The Epoch Times)

With $17.5 billion, the state could have paid the rent for every unhoused person in California for those four years, even at the state’s high home costs.

“That is reductive … Perhaps that would work for me because I don’t have significant behavioral health challenges,” said Elliott. “If two-thirds of people on the streets right now are experiencing mental health symptoms, we can’t just pay their rent.”

Newsom devoted his reign as governor to fixing the state’s homeless issue when he was re-elected in 2020.

In a recent poll, 84 percent of Californians said they think homelessness is a “very serious problem.”

“Californians demand accountability and results, not settling for the status quo,” Newsom said in a statement. “As a state, we are failing to meet the urgency of this moment. Collectively, these plans set a goal to reduce street homelessness 2 [percent] statewide by 2024. At this pace, it would take decades to curb homelessness in California significantly – this approach is simply unacceptable. Everyone has to do better—cities, counties, and the state included. We are all in this together.”

Mayor  Karen Bass launched a program called Inside Safe in Los Angeles, the epicenter of the homelessness crisis in the Golden State, to clear street encampments.

Bass acknowledged her success of moving more than 1,300 people off the streets into motels but didn’t detail how many have been moved into permanent housing.

“This is an emergency when it comes to housing, just as it is an emergency when it comes to homelessness,” Bass said during a news conference at City Hall. “Over the first six months of my administration, we’ve seen thousands of Angelenos come inside and thousands of units to be expedited (for construction). That urgency must continue with added collaboration and coordination with the City Council.”

The 2023-2024 city budget includes $250 million for Inside Safe. In total, $110 million will be used to pay for temporary motels. $21 million will be used for permanent housing.

“We need 2.5 million more units in California,” said Elliott. “This is a problem that is decades and decades in the making because of policy choices that we’ve made. We are not blameless. And when I say we, I mean Republicans and Democrats alike.”

A total of $20.6 billion has been allocated through 2024 to combat homelessness. Nearly $4 billion went to local governments to spend on anti-homelessness initiatives. $3.7 billion went to a program called Project Homekey, which also funds local governments specifically to buy properties like motels and commercial buildings to turn into permanent, affordable housing. So far, 13,500 units have been finished.

“It’s not enough,” said Elliott. “But reversing the slide is the first step to creating an increase.”

The Newsom administration is spending more to combat homelessness than this state ever has before.

“The federal government needs to get in the game and do what it used to do, which is provide housing as a guarantee,” said Elliott. He says for every four Americans needing a housing voucher, there is just one voucher available.

“We’re facing a tidal wave, and we’re doing the best we can—to mix metaphors a little bit—to paddle out from that and to try to tread water and do as best we can while we try to make the fundamental change necessary both in California and at the national level to address homelessness truly,” Elliott concluded,