OAN’s Brooke Mallory
5:09 PM – Friday, April 12, 2023
California spent $24 billion over five years to address homelessness, but failed to regularly monitor whether the huge spending of public funds was making real progress on the worsening problem. California Republican officials are calling for improvements after an audit revealed that Accountability.
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The state auditor’s report found that several communities continue to face homelessness and housing challenges, despite spending nearly $24 billion on these efforts from fiscal years 2018 to 2023.
The California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH), which oversees agency coordination and resource allocation for homeless services, stopped monitoring the program’s effectiveness in 2021, according to the report.
“The audit also found that outcome data for these programs could not be collected and evaluated because there was no consistent methodology.” fox news report.
James Gallagher, the Republican leader in the California State Assembly, directly criticized the Newsom administration.
“This is classic Gavin Newsom: making a splashy announcement, wasting a lot of taxpayer money, and not fully delivering on the results,” Gavin Newsom said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “Californians are tired of the homelessness crisis, but they’re even more tired of Gavin’s excuses. We need results – period, period, period.”
Republican state Sen. Roger Niello told reporters he was “not really surprised” even though he called the audit “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 putting people in shelters, but also putting people out of homelessness. “There’s very little mention of the actual outcome of rescuing them,” he said. “It’s half the job, or maybe not half the job. So it was a little disappointing.”
After visiting a large homeless encampment in San Jose last year, Democratic state Sen. Dave Cortese filed his first audit request, saying it “highlights the need for improved data and greater transparency at both the state and local level.” It became,” he said.
“Unfortunately, the approach to data collection and outcomes is fragmented and there is no centralized system to track investments,” he continued. “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.”
Steve Garvey, a former professional baseball player and current Republican candidate for the upcoming 2024 U.S. Senate election, posted on Twitter regarding the recent audit.
Despite the audit’s conclusions, California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) since AB 977 went into effect on January 1st.centIn 2023, data collection has been “improved.”
According to the law, the Homeless Management Information System (HMIS) must contain certain data items about individuals and families entered by recipients of state-funded homeless assistance services.
According to Cal ICH, local governments have greater responsibility because they have “primary responsibility for implementing these programs and collecting data on outcomes that states can use to evaluate program effectiveness.” It is said that he should bear the burden.
“The Council is committed to improving its ability to ensure that taxpayers’ funds are used wisely and effectively, including by providing technical assistance to local authorities to help harmonize data standards and reporting. continues,” California ICH said.
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