A state audit released Tuesday reveals California spent nearly $24 billion over the past five fiscal years to address the homelessness crisis but failed to track the effectiveness of the programs it funded. I made it.
State Republican leaders are demanding answers and accountability from Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom’s administration over untracked spending.
state auditor’s reportA study requested last year by Democratic state Sen. Dave Cortese found that the California Interagency Council on Homelessness, the government agency responsible for providing resources to the state’s homeless population, consistently and consistently makes efforts to end homelessness. It became clear that they were not tracking or evaluating. Additionally, the audit found that of the five state-funded programs to address the issue, only two were “likely to be cost-effective.” The other three programs lacked sufficient outcome data to assess cost-effectiveness, the report said.
“Generally, this report concludes that the state needs to do more to assess the cost-effectiveness of its anti-homelessness programs,” California State Comptroller Grant Parks wrote. “California ICH reported financial information in 2023 covering fiscal years 2018-19 through 2020-21 related to all state-funded homelessness programs, but since then, Despite additional funding, we have not continued to track and report this data.The state has been recognized for these efforts over the past two years.”
Parks said California ICH’s plan to end homelessness also lacks “a consistent way to collect information on the costs and outcomes of individual programs.”
The state comptroller recommended that lawmakers require state agencies and California ICH to report on costs and outcomes.
Sen. Cortese acknowledged that the audit “highlights the need for improved data and increased transparency at both the state and local level.”
“Unfortunately, the approach to data collection and outcomes is fragmented and there is no centralized system to track investments,” Cortese said. “This audit highlights the urgent need to establish best practices and create a blueprint for how California and our cities can address our most visible challenges. Masu.”
California Assembly Republican Leader James Gallagher accused Newsom of failing to address the state’s growing homelessness problem.
“This is classic Gavin Newsom: making flashy announcements, wasting a lot of taxpayer money, and completely underachieving,” Gallagher said. fox news digital. “Californians are tired of our homelessness crisis, but we’re even more tired of Gavin’s excuses. We need results, period, period.”
Republican state Sen. Roger Niello told Fox News Digital that he was “not really surprised” by the audit’s findings, but called the findings “alarming.”
“One problem I felt with the audit was that it was focused primarily on housing and shelter issues, which is certainly important, but not just getting people out of homelessness and not just putting them in shelters. There was very little mention of the actual results,” Niello said. “It’s kind of half the job, but maybe not half the job. So I was a little disappointed.”
In response to the audit, California ICH said it “generally agrees with the recommendations provided by CSA and will take appropriate action where possible.” He also asserted that local governments “have the primary responsibility for implementing these programs and collecting data on outcomes that the state can use to evaluate the program’s effectiveness,” Fox News Digital reported. .
“The Council is committed to increasing its ability to ensure that taxpayer funds are used wisely and effectively, including by providing technical assistance to local jurisdictions to help harmonize data standards and reporting. continues,” California ICH added.
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