Some California Democrats are calling for the Golden State’s leadership after Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Homeless Task Force failed to track whether the billions of dollars spent over the past five years to curb the homelessness crisis were successful. I’m rebelling against people.
“When you come to the budget committee, you don’t have the numbers,” Democratic Rep. Phil Ting told Newsom’s housing and homelessness officials during a budget committee hearing Monday. “How many people have we helped? How many people have we taken off the street?”
“Because that’s what people want to know,” he added.
Officials at the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (CICH) are addressing “data quality issues” so metrics on how more than $20 billion has been spent since the council’s inception I replied that it was not available yet.
“We are working quickly,” said executive director Megan Marshall.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom is facing backlash over the state’s lack of tracking of $20 billion worth of homeless resources and programs. (MediaNews Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images | Contributor/Mario Tama/Staff)
“But what does that mean? We’ve spent billions of dollars, but we have no idea how many people we’ve helped,” Tan said.
Megan Kirkeby, deputy director of the California Department of Housing and Community Development, told committee members that the state has not previously asked them to track spending progress or the program’s viability, calling it a “proud place.” That’s not the point,” he added. of. “
CICH, the Blue State’s coordinating hub for homelessness programs, shifted the blame to local cities last month in an emailed response to a Fox News Digital investigation into the failure to track funds. A senior spokesperson said local governments “have the primary responsibility for implementing these programs and collecting data on outcomes that the state can use to evaluate the effectiveness of the programs.”
The state faces a large budget deficit that must be resolved by a July deadline, and Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature say the audit results will add to several cities’ requests for additional funding to address the homelessness crisis. I am concerned that it may cause problems. California has the highest rate of homelessness in the nation, with more than 181,000 people living on the streets.
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A homeless man walks in the Skid Row neighborhood of downtown Los Angeles on December 12, 2022. (Sarah Reingewirtz/Media News Group/Los Angeles Daily News via Getty Images)
In a shocking report last month, the state comptroller’s office found that nine state agencies spent a combined $24 billion in state funds over the past five years administering at least 30 programs dedicated to tackling the homelessness crisis. After disclosing the spending, the Comptroller’s Office said Newsom’s Homeless Council was being “mistreated.” It is responsible for coordinating, developing and evaluating the efforts of these nine agencies. ”
The state’s independent audit noted that CICH, which is required by law to report financials related to all state-funded anti-homelessness programs, stopped reporting in 2021.
Over the past five years, CICH did not consistently track whether the funds actually improved the situation, the audit concluded. The lack of a consistent methodology also precluded the collection and evaluation of outcome data for these programs.
“The state must do more to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of homelessness programs,” the state auditor said in a letter to the governor.
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Proposition 1 adds $6 billion to California’s homeless assistance funding. (Fox News)
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Billions of dollars spent on homelessness and housing programs from fiscal years 2018 to 2023 did not improve the problem in many cities, according to the state auditor’s report. Since 2013, the number of homeless people has soared by more than 53%.
As a result, Newsom called on cities to take stricter measures to enforce the state’s progressive housing laws. Newsom said at a news conference that the state is expanding the Department of Housing and Community Development’s agency to enforce compliance with laws that require cities to meet standards for new housing in Huntington Beach, which is refusing to increase housing. announced that it would lead to legal action against such rebellious cities. building.
The governor said, “I’m not interested in failure anymore.”
Both Newsom’s office and CICH responded to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment in time for publication.
