(The Center Square) – Progress, or lack thereof, being made in California counties and cities on homelessness, housing and behavioral health can be tracked on a new website, Gov. Gavin Newsom said Monday.
Local governments are being provided $118.7 million for 14 projects to move people out of encampments and into shelters and housing, the second-term Democrat said. About half that money, $56.4 million, is going to Los Angeles to address three encampments near Interstate 10, Hollywood Boulevard and the Los Angeles River.
The state is also awarding nearly $42 million of additional funding for five regions, Newsom said. The money is from the fifth round of Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention funds.
He added more than $760 million will be available for the sixth round of HHAP funds.
“But there will be more strings attached,” Newsom said.
The governor stressed local jurisdictions are expected to make progress in moving homeless individuals into shelters and housing from encampments. He said he wants safer streets and sidewalks.
Communities that received money from the newest round of HHAP funding will have to adhere to increased transparency, compliance and accountability measures, the governor said.
As tracked by the new website, accountability.ca.gov, communities designated as “pro-housing” will get the highest priority for funding, Newsom said.
He said recipients of grants must maintain a compliant housing element.
He has also called for the state to be able to “claw back” funding from jurisdictions where progress isn’t being made.
Goals for HHAP money include developing and supporting permanent housing, a release says.
Homelessness last year grew by 18% across the nation, but the governor’s office said California dramatically decreased its amount of growth to 3% in 2024.
Likewise, the number of unsheltered homeless individuals climbed nearly 7% across the U.S. but only 0.45% in California, according to the governor’s office.
“No one in our nation should be without a place to call home,” Newsom said. “As we continue to support our communities in addressing homelessness, we expect fast results, not excuses.
“While we are pleased by the progress many communities have made to address the homelessness crisis, there is more work to do.”
On a county-by-county basis, the accountability website shows the number of new housing units, changes in the numbers of homeless and the number of people being helped through behavioral health partnerships.
The website also shows whether each county’s housing plan was compliant with state standards, lists cities within the county that were out of compliance and notes jurisdictions that have been proved to be pro-housing.
For example, the website shows 118,367 housing units were completed from 2019 to 2023 in Los Angeles County, where the number of unsheltered homeless people dropped 5.3% since 2023. The website also said 11,472 people in the county were enrolled in behavioral health partnerships.
Los Angeles County’s housing plan complies with state standards, according to the website. It also said the county and the cities of Los Angeles, Long Beach, Santa Monica and West Hollywood have stood out as pro-housing jurisdictions.
Thirteen Los Angeles County cities fell short of state standards. They are Artesia, Caron, Commerce, Compton, Hidden Hills, Irwindale, La Habra Heights, La Mirada, Norwalk, Palos Verdes Estates, San Marino, Vernon and West Covina.
The website also reports progress on permits for housing for very low-, low, moderate and above-moderate incomes.
Taxpayers are getting results for the state dollars in their communities, Riverside Mayor Patricia Lock Dawson said at Newsom’s news conference.
“In the city of Riverside, we have ended youth homelessness,” said Dawson, chairwoman of California Big City Mayors, a bipartisan coalition of mayors of the state’s 13 biggest cities.
Not all big cities are doing well. Unsheltered homelessness is up 18.2% since 2023 in San Diego County.
“You can see San Diego County is struggling,” Newsom said.
