SAN DIEGO — On Tuesday, California Governor Gavin Newsom unveiled a $12 billion plan to tackle the issue of homelessness. According to Newsom, the investment will be the largest of its kind in California history. This plan will provide an estimated 65,000 people with housing placements, more than 300,000 people with housing stability and create 46,000 new housing units.
If passed, the plan will build on Homekey, which is a program that provided safe shelter from COVID-19 to 36,000 Californians and created 6,000 affordable housing units. Governor Newsom’s plan includes a massive expansion of Homekey to get housing up and running quickly, investing $8.75 billion to unlock at least 46,000 new homeless housing units and affordable apartments. The plan focuses on those with the most acute needs, with at least 28,000 new beds and housing placements for clients with behavioral health needs and seniors at the highest risk of homelessness.
Newsom claims the plan also comes with greater accountability and transparency measures, to make sure investments are put toward effective solutions and money is well-spent.
Newsom says that under the California Comeback Plan, the state seeks to functionally end family homelessness within five years through a new $3.5 billion investment in homelessness prevention, rental support and new housing opportunities for people at risk of homelessness. To achieve this, the Newsom Administration is investing $1.85 billion in new housing for homeless families and $1.6 billion in rental support and homelessness prevention for families.
“Within a year, Homekey did more to address the homelessness and affordable housing crisis than anything that’s been done in decades and became a national model. Now is the time to double down on these successful efforts,” said Governor Newsom. “The California Comeback Plan invests a historic $12 billion to expand these successful programs and seeks to end family homelessness within five years. That’s the idea behind the Comeback Plan’s homelessness investments – more, faster and with accountability and efficiency stitched into the fabric of these new investments.”
According to the Governor’s Office, the California Comeback Plan includes almost $50 million in targeted programs and grants to local governments, to move people out of unsafe, unhealthy encampments and into safer, more stable housing. The plan also aims to provide stable housing for thousands of vulnerable aged youth experiencing homelessness or at-risk of homelessness by targeting resources through Homekey and supporting various youth-focused grant programs. In addition, the plan calls for stricter enforcement measures of state housing law and investments into proven strategies, ensuring local governments are meeting targets to reduce homelessness.
The Governor is proposing an additional $1.5 billion investment to clean public spaces near highways and transform public spaces through arts and cultural projects. The initiative is expected to create an estimated 15,000 jobs, including for people experiencing or exiting homelessness, at-risk youth, veterans and formerly incarcerated individuals.
The California Comeback Plan outlines comprehensive strategies and major investments to address five of the state’s most stubborn challenges. The Governor yesterday unveiled the first challenge his plan will tackle, immediate relief for Californians recovering from the pandemic, which includes the largest state tax rebate in American history and expanded rent relief and utility assistance. The Governor has also announced a $5.1 billion package supporting the state’s drought response and water infrastructure, improving the state’s resilience to climate change impacts. Under Governor Newsom’s $100 billion plan, California will come roaring back from this pandemic.
Watch: Governor Newsom explains the magnitude of what the state is doing to combat homelessness