Newsom announces $827M in new funding to tackle California's homeless crisis
LA to get $380M to combat homeless crisis
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced new funding to help tackle the homelessness crisis.
LOS ANGELES - A week ahead of the U.S. presidential election, California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced $827 million in new funding to combat the state’s homeless crisis, with $380 million going to Los Angeles and its surrounding cities.
"This is a crisis," Newsom said in downtown LA on Tuesday morning. "It's not who we are and it's not who we should be. We are committed to doing more and doing better."
The funding, going to 30 jurisdictions, is set to help communities connect unsheltered individuals with housing and services.
Newsom said $160 million will go to the city of LA, $97 million to LA County, and other housing programs in cities that include Long Beach, Pasadena and Glendale.
A homeless count from over the summer conducted by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) found there were 75,312 unhoused people in Los Angeles County and an additional 45,252 in the city of LA, totaling more than 120,000 people.
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Newsom announces $827M to address homeless crisis
Governor Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced $827 million in new state funding to address the ongoing homeless crisis, including $380 million for Los Angeles.
"We are seeing progress in many parts of the state and we’re seeing stubborn issues in other parts," Newsom added. "No one is naïve about the challenge of this issue. No one is naïve about the public’s perception of our state."
"No one is denying how angry people are, how frustrated they are, how heartbroken they are," Newsom said.
Newsom emphasized the state is taking action and placed the blame on previous leadership, saying California has "stepped up" in ways it never has in the past.
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"The state of California was not invested in homelessness until just a few years ago. The state was absent."
Newsom said that the funding hopes officials will move away from the finger-pointing and job-owning and will instead move to accountability.
"Everybody is accountable. No one should be immune to any accountability," Newsom said.
"This is a crisis and it requires a crisis mindset. We can’t conduct business as usual. People are dying on our watch," Newsom added.
Newsom concluded by explaining this if the fifth round of HHAP (Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention) funding. The sixth round was approved in June, which he said would be an additional $1 billion in investments.