California’s homelessness problem has been called one of the state’s “greatest humanitarian failures.” The state has the most homeless people in the country — more than the entire population of Salt Lake City.
A bill now sitting on Gov. Gavin Newsom’s desk would require California to develop a statewide strategy to prevent homelessness before it starts instead of throwing billions of dollars at remedying it. That includes plans for state agencies and evidence-based prevention practices.
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“We have made tremendous investments in homelessness that almost exclusively are devoted to reacting and managing the crisis that won’t work because every day in California more people use homeless services for the first time than get housed,” Mike Feuer, senior policy adviser at Inner City Law Center, told Straight Arrow.
Inner City Law Center is a cosponsor of that bill.
What it would do
Major cities in the state, like San Francisco and Los Angeles, have tried their own strategies for decades with little success. San Francisco recently announced changes to their strategy, acknowledging that money should be spent only on programs that work.
But supporters of preventative approaches say some programs have shown promise. The bill on Newsom’s desk aims to amplify those efforts statewide.
“The bill does not bring together city efforts except to the extent that it elevates them and develops model prevention practices based on what’s happening in various jurisdictions,” Feuer said.
One example seen as a success comes from Santa Clara County, where funds are paired with community groups to provide temporary financial assistance, legal aid, case management or other services to people who would otherwise lose their homes.
The bill will also require the California Interagency Council on Homelessness to identify where certain gaps exist in locales statewide.
“The focus of this legislation is to try to prevent the flow of people into homelessness,” Jim Sullivan, professor of economics at Notre Dame University, told Straight Arrow. “This is not a solution to those who are already homeless, but it is certainly an important component to an overall effort to fight homelessness in the state of California.”
The goal is to have this new strategy in place by July 2028.
Which means that, even if Newsom signs it, Californians won’t see any substantial change for years.
“The mere existence of the process to create that plan, and the fact that for the first time the state has a conspicuous requirement to create a prevention strategy is going to alter practices around the state,” Feuer said.
The economics
Sullivan and others at Notre Dame partnered with the homelessness reduction initiative in the Bay Area to study the economics of efforts to prevent homelessness.
They found efforts to stop homelessness, while typically expensive, often produce a good return on investment.
“There’s a lot of suggestive evidence that becoming homeless has other ripple effects,” Sullivan said. “It can lead to greater involvement in the criminal justice system, worse health outcomes, greater use of government services, worse outcomes for children when it involves families. All of those end up being not just a direct, obvious cost to those that are experiencing homelessness, but a cost to society as a whole.”
Feuer also referenced that study as evidence that preventative programs help save money in the long term. Specifically, $2.47 for every dollar the public spends on those programs.
In the short term, the numbers being spent on homelessness efforts may make some taxpayers’ eyes pop. In San Francisco, it’s nearly $1 billion. In Los Angeles, it’s also pushing $1 billion.
The California State Auditor found the Golden State has allocated nearly $24 billion to housing and homelessness issues from 2018-2023.
Yet the number of homeless continues to grow. This new effort aims at prevention to stop that number from growing.
“If you’re in the public, you want to see resources devoted to keeping people who are precariously housed in their homes,” Feuer said. “There are strategies that we know work. They need to be scaled up and employed by the state as well as local jurisdictions, and then we’ll see progress. Otherwise, we’re going to see this very minor change.”
Broad support, but low on details
Most homelessness advocate groups have been supportive.
“It’s much cheaper and much more humane to intervene to prevent homelessness than it is to react to it after the fact, and everybody gets that,” Feuer said.
While there’s been little opposition, there are two questions that remain.
First, will Newsom sign? He has not commented publicly.
“I never take anything for granted, but all indications are that he would sign the bill,” Feuer said.
Second, will this actually make a difference? Only time will tell.
“This isn’t a bill that is even designed to end homelessness, because you still have to think about what are we going to do about people who are already struggling with housing stability issues, are already homeless?” Sullivan said.
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