Gov. Gavin Newsom announced Friday that the state will grant 18 cities $131 million to clear homeless encampments and provide shelter, care and support.
The grants are a part of the state’s $1 billion Encampment Resolution Funds. The city of Los Angeles is slated to receive $11.3 million in funding.
“We’re supporting local communities’ efforts to get people out of encampments and connected with care and housing across the state. It’s important and urgent work that requires everyone to do their part. The state has committed more than $27 billion to help local governments tackle the homelessness crisis — and we want to see $27 billion worth of results,” Newsom said in a statement.
The city of Sacramento will receive the most funding at $18 million.
Award recipients will need to adhere “to all state housing and homeless laws — as well as remain in compliance with their Housing Elements — or risk losing funding and face other enforcement actions,” according to Newsom.
The announcement comes after the city of Norwalk’s compliance with the housing element law was revoked on Thursday, deeming the city ineligible to receive state housing and homelessness funds.
The state Department of Housing and Community Development revoked its compliance after Norwalk City Council decided to extend its moratorium on emergency shelters for the homeless, single-room occupancy and transitional housing, a day after Newsom threatened the city with a potential lawsuit if the ordinance wasn’t reversed.
In July, Newsom signed an executive order, which, among other things, allowed state and local officials to dismantle homeless encampments.
The executive order was issued in response to a Supreme Court decision in late June that granted officials authority to remove the encampments and ticket people for camping in public in Grants Pass, Oregon. While some city leaders applauded the executive order, others, like Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, called the decision “unfortunate.”
While Newsom cannot force local authorities to act, his administration can apply pressure by withholding money for counties and cities.
Here’s the full list of cities and communities that received funding:
- City of Antioch – $6,812,686
- City of Berkeley – $5,395,637
- City of Carlsbad – $2,994,225
- City of Los Angeles – $11,351,281
- City of Palm Springs – $5,106,731
- City of Petaluma – $8,098,978
- City of Redlands — $5,341,800
- City of Richmond —- $9,336,746
- City of Sacramento — $18,199,661
- City of San Jose —- $4,821,083
- City of Victorville — $6,365,070
- City of Visalia —- $3,000,000
- County of Contra Costa —- $5,708,516
- County of Riverside — $12,612,779
- County of San Bernardino — $11,000,000
- City and County of San Francisco – $7,975,486
- Humboldt County — Continuum of Care – $3,784,294
- Pasadena – Continuum of Care – $2,772,801
Statements from Inland Empire agencies on how the funds will be used include:
San Bernardino County
The county will focus the $11 million on the urban encampment located at the Highland Avenue Corridor, parallel to the 210 freeway.
The funding will be allocated to support outreach and case management efforts as well as temporary and permanent housing solutions, including hotel and motel vouchers to provide immediate support to the unhoused community and the costs associated with purchasing a property and developing a campus consisting of 25 tiny houses.
The tiny houses will be an innovative permanent housing solution that will include a resource office, case management offices, a community garden and a communal dining facility. Long-term operational support will be achieved through reduced-rate rental payments by residents.
Riverside County
“The funds will be used to coordinate housing for individuals who are experiencing homelessness along the Murrieta Creek Trail which travels through the cities of Murrieta, Wildomar and Lake Elsinore. This effort builds on an existing framework we established during two previous state Encampment Resolution awards targeting the Santa Ana and San Jacinto Riverbeds and will focus on connecting these individuals to affordable housing and the wraparound supports they need to exit homelessness.
This includes direct housing assistance to 100 individuals covering costs towards interim shelter, security deposits, move-in expenses, and rents. The funds will also support a dedicated multidisciplinary team comprised of various county departments and contracted partners through the Regional Homeless Alliance to ensure individuals receive the wraparound care need (I.e., case management, housing navigation, behavioral health, workforce, and other essential services) successfully to exit homelessness.