California has allocated more than $20 billion to alleviate the state’s homelessness crisis since Gavin Newsom became governor in 2019, but there’s precious little data on how the money was spent and what effect it’s had, other than the number of unhoused people has continued to climb.
Despite the absence of hard information, Newsom has been highly critical of what he characterizes as the shortcomings of local governments and has threatened to withhold funds from those deemed to be laggards. Local officials, in turn, say they cannot construct comprehensive, long-term strategies unless Newsom is willing to make multi-year commitments of financial support.
Earlier this year, state Auditor Grant Parks issued a harshly worded audit of the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Newsom administration’s tool for coordinating homelessness programs.
“The state lacks current information on the ongoing costs and outcomes of its homelessness programs, because (the council) has not consistently tracked and evaluated the state’s efforts to prevent and end homelessness,” Parks wrote, adding that its most recent data is three years old.
