Homelessness is the Achilles’ heel of California. Here is why we keep failing | Opinion 

Being known as a leader in our country — and throughout the world — is a point of pride for this state. Many of our out-of-the-box policies that improve the lives of Californians are one step ahead of the rest of the country.

Except when it comes to homelessness. California has the highest rate of homelessness in the country, and is “home” to nearly half of the entire country’s unsheltered population.

The explosion of homelessness and the growing shortage of affordable housing are our state’s proverbial Achilles’ heel. The commitment to tackling these twin problems remind us of the limits of one-time spending: these decades-in-the-making crises will not be solved one budget cycle at a time.

There is some progress. Cities are working tirelessly to shelter unhoused residents and connect them to services. Simultaneously, cities are also meeting their state housing goals by planning, zoning and approving homes at all income levels. But the demand for housing and services is outpacing what our system can deliver.

One cautionary tale is from the city of Hayward. In the last three years, the city has helped more than 300 people move into permanent housing. Hayward bucked the trend of growing homelessness due in large part to the city’s first Housing Navigation Center, which provided temporary housing and connected people to services such as behavioral health support and employment assistance. When the pandemic started, the city nimbly tapped into federal relief funds to convert a motel into an additional facility.

But the federal relief funding was only temporary. In late January, Hayward had no choice but to close the converted motel, which since opening had graduated 102 individuals into permanent housing.

National evidence shows us that the solution to ending homelessness is housing, including permanent supportive housing, affordable housing and rental assistance coupled with ongoing services.

A League of California Cities statewide survey found that nearly 85% of cities report they have implemented programs to reduce and prevent homelessness. However, nearly 90% of cities have concerns over their ability to keep delivering these programs long term. The top two barriers for cities? Limited supportive housing options and lack of ongoing funding.

Cities throughout the state are tapping into multiple funding sources to deliver emergency shelters and permanent supportive housing. But Californians are falling into homelessness faster than cities can serve and rehouse them. City officials are frustrated that they are, in the words of one city manager, “feeding into an endless cycle of removing one person by adding another.”

The unreliable, one-time infusion of funds that the state has provided cities in recent years does not allow for the planning of long-term resources, services and care for unsheltered residents, nor does the funding incentivize construction of affordable housing.

In the southern California city of Pomona, more than 60% of the city’s renters and over two-thirds of city’s homeowners are cost burdened, which means they spend more than 30% of their monthly income on housing. For the past few years, the city has utilized a state housing fund to leverage the construction of three different affordable housing projects, creating more than 250 affordable units. But this state funding source only finances one affordable housing development a year — falling dramatically short of what the community needs.

Many cities face the same struggle: Demand for the last round of funding for the state’s flagship multi-family affordable housing program was so high that 90% of the developments did not see the light of day.

Instead, the Legislature and the Governor continue to favor short-term fixes over long-term solutions. Housing and homelessness-related nonprofits estimate that if the state invested $8 billion a year over 12 years, we could solve homelessness in the state. In this year’s state budget, there is zero long-term funding for housing and homelessness.

Local governments, homeless service providers, housing advocates, and business leaders agree that ongoing funding is key to ensuring an end to these crises. A bipartisan group of nearly 30 lawmakers have endorsed this idea as well.

If we all agree that ongoing funding is the urgent action needed, why wait?

The definition of insanity is doing the same thing repeatedly and expecting different results. The same can be said for the state’s piecemeal approach to funding housing and homelessness programs.

We are living in a time where greater state investments to address these crises are not an option — they’re a mandate. Let’s deliver to Californians the housing and services they deserve and show the rest of the country what strong and compassionate leadership looks like.

This story was originally published July 27, 2023 at 6:00 AM with the headline "Homelessness is the Achilles’ heel of California. Here is why we keep failing | Opinion ."