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By Bo Tefu | California Black Media
California’s permanent housing and emergency shelter capacity programs are struggling to meet the homeless population’s growing housing needs, a Public Policy Institute of California (PPIC) report stated.
California has launched several programs to mitigate its homelessness crisis – the worst in the nation — which was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. According to the report, federal funding helped the state increase emergency shelter beds by 34% during the pandemic. However, the shelters only provided temporary housing for people experiencing homelessness.
The PPIC stated that the increase in homelessness indicates that California needs to expand housing programs to accommodate the growing population.
The “programs that can prevent and mitigate homelessness and housing instability are more urgently needed than ever,” the PPIC stated.
Across California, there remains a shortage of beds in shelters for unhoused people. The report estimates that the state has more than 180,000 homeless people but only about 70,000 beds, accounting for an overall shortage of nearly 110,000 beds.
The state’s struggle to provide permanent housing persists despite establishing partnerships with community-based organizations to tackle the problem.
California’s government has spent billions to increase capacity, but the rising cost of living and limited progress has made it difficult to get rid of homelessness. Local governments have also struggled to track city spending and provide accurate audits of housing programs.
A major concern for the state, according to the report, is that local governments are running out of pandemic-related relief funds. This has led to a decline in the number of beds funded by the Emergency Solutions Grants – Coronavirus (ESG-CV) program. Local governments have urged the state to increase funding for city housing programs, but city officials are yet to establish a reliable method to monitor and evaluate the effectiveness of existing programs.
