California Construction News staff writer
An additional $38 million has been announced to clean up encampments and move people into housing. The total is now $750 million, including more than $17 million for San Francisco over the last 10 months.
The governor’s announcement came as the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals hears San Francisco’s appeal of a court order constraining the city from addressing homelessness.
“In California, we are cutting red tape and making unprecedented investments to address homelessness, but with each hard-fought step forward, the courts are creating costly delays that slow progress,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said. “I urge the courts to empower local communities to address street encampments quickly and comprehensively.”
Officials say decisions handed down by judges from Phoenix to San Francisco are paralyzing local government’s ability to address homelessness by prohibiting cities from enforcing “reasonable limits” on sleeping and camping on public sidewalks, and allow unsafe encampments with makeshift, dangerous housing structures to grow unchecked – running counter to common-sense approaches to address the challenges on our city streets.
The $38 million added to the encampment resolution fund which was designed by the Administration and the Legislature to provide communities of all sizes with the support to move people living in encampments into housing. It will support seven communities statewide, connecting approximately 1,250 people experiencing homelessness in encampments to needed services and housing. Six of the seven projects will resolve encampments along state rights-of-way.
The following communities are included:
- San Joaquin County – $11.1 million
- The Bakersfield/Kern County Continuum of Care – $7 million
- The City of Thousand Oaks – $5.8 million
- The City of Long Beach – $5.3 million
- The City of Visalia – $3.6 million
- Sonoma County – $2.8 million
- The Pasadena Continuum of Care – $2.1 million
San Francisco previously received over $17 million.
