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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under what circumstances should San Francisco be able to clear homeless encampments? Last week, protesters and counter-protesters went head-to-head outside the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals over an injunction that limits the city’s ability to do that. KQED’s Sydney Johnson unpacks this legal battle, and explains why it has sparked such strong feelings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC7775726450\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and welcome to The Bay. Local news to keep you rooted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>London Breed: \u003c/strong>We are compassionate, we are supportive. We continue to help people. But this is not the way anything goes in San Francisco. It’s not the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>It was a pretty tense scene outside a courthouse in San Francisco last week where Mayor London Breed and city leaders were protesting over one big question How much should the city be able to clear homeless encampments and move the people living there? The city has been under a court order that puts limits on encampment sweeps. And people in San Francisco have strong feelings about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Fred Winograd: \u003c/strong>Outside of my door, someone can camp and stay there and not be moved because of this injunction. But that’s harmed the residents and the businesses of this city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Terri Beswick: \u003c/strong>I love that the court took a stand on this and I hope that they stick to it and say, you know, you if you want people off the streets, you have to give them somewhere to stay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Today, what this legal battle means for encampment sweeps in San Francisco and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>So essentially you have the Coalition on Homelessness, which is representing a group of individuals who are or were recently experiencing homelessness, who sued the city of San Francisco for essentially not following its own laws as it relates to clearing homeless encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Sydney Johnson is a reporter for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>People representing different city agencies are meant to approach the people or person who lives there and ask them, you know, would you like shelter or some sort of housing option that has to happen in these sweeps. If there isn’t someone, you know, at the their belongings, but it’s clear that someone probably is staying there. The city also has a process that is called bag and tag, where they’re supposed to actually label the items and bring them to a place in the city where individuals can actually go and retrieve them. So all of those policies that we talked about offering shelter, bagging and tagging personal items, you know, these steps that are supposed to happen before an encampment is cleared. The plaintiffs in this case argued that the city had not been doing. Now, the city argues that it does lead with services, that it does do this, it understands and it does not deny that there is a huge additional need for more housing and for more temporary shelter. But the city says, you know, we do make these offers, we do follow our policies. But it’s arguing that the lawsuit has made it even more difficult for the city to respond to those calls that it gets from residents saying, hey, I’m concerned about this, you know, encampment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>The news last week was about this injunction. Can you explain to me what is it and what did it do exactly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Last September and 2022, that was when the lawsuit was first filed. That was when the coalition on homelessness sued the city of San Francisco just before Christmas Eve, also of last year. The judge granted a temporary injunction, which basically was a temporary order that said, hey, San Francisco, you cannot keep doing these encampment sweeps in the way that you’ve been doing it until you know this next step in the case. And that temporary injunction is still active right now. That doesn’t always mean that the city just can’t do anything right. If someone is breaking other laws while they’re sitting or lying. You know, that is a way that the city can still enforce its laws. The lawsuit came a bit to a head because there were two hearings. The city had tried to get the judge to release them from this injunction, and that was heard in a court. There were rallies happening outside on both ends, and it got pretty intense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Protesters: \u003c/strong>[Chanting] Save our streets!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>News Anchor: \u003c/strong>Even before the hearing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals got underway. Both sides were arguing…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>There were some videos of people shouting directly at each other. However, you know, it did, I think, speak to just some of the frustration and also passion that people in San Francisco and across California right now really are feeling about this issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well, let’s dig into that a little bit more. Sydney, I want to start with the people who came out for this injunction, which to be clear means that they oppose the city doing sweeps more aggressively. Who came out last week on this side? Like, who is at the courthouse?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>So definitely lawyers from the ACLU and other attorneys who are representing the Coalition on homelessness were there. So all of those policies that we talked about just a minute ago, you know, these steps that are supposed to happen before an encampment is cleared. The plaintiffs in this case argued that the city had not been doing. In some circumstances, they said that city agencies would maybe just sort of wave a hand at shelter, not really genuinely offer it. In addition, they also had a lot of evidence showing that that bagging and tagging process was not being followed as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Zal Shroff \u003c/strong>Unhoused folks have a constitutional right against being policed out of sight just because they have no housing to go to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Zal Shroff is the interim legal director with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s been really involved in this case and essentially argues that San Francisco has not been following its own laws that are on the books and its own policies around what it can and can’t do to clear homeless encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Zal Shroff \u003c/strong>So you can’t go around seizing and destroying people’s tents. You have to safeguard their property. You have to store it. You have to give an opportunity to recover it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>It’s all essentially walked me through some examples where the city has, you know, flagrantly just disregarded some of those bag and tag policies. You know, told me some pretty heartbreaking stories of people who had lost really important medications, devices that they use to contact family members or even sign up for shelter, since that’s an online system now and that they had lost these items without much recourse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Zal Shroff \u003c/strong>The injunction goal was to have a disciplining effect to make sure the city’s goals were actually aligned with its actions, to make sure that when we actually approach an encampment, we have enough shelter. Folks, we are successful in getting them off the streets and into shelter and housing and the actually improving street homelessness conditions. That has not been the experience since the injunction because it’s very unclear whether or not they’re following it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>He is is really trying to underscore. Or that this lawsuit is not about just allowing the streets to delve into chaos. I don’t think anyone wants that. But, you know, he and others who are supporting this case say that the city needs to come up with actual solutions if it’s going to force people to move. And also just acknowledging the harm that is caused by forcing people to move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Zal Shroff \u003c/strong>You know, I think we are, in a way talking past each other about the root causes of the homelessness crisis and also what causes street homelessness, because, of course, we know that a lack of access to shelter and a lack of access to affordable housing is the cause of the street homelessness crisis. And yet we have a huge gap in terms of what the city has been able to offer to actually mitigate that issue. And we see a real scapegoating about how people who are a problem that is really decades in the making.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well, let’s talk about the other side of this debate. Who was at the courthouse on that side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>The opposing rally that was there last week was really arguing for being able to clear encampments under most circumstances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>London Breed: \u003c/strong>We are compassionate. We are supportive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Outside the courthouse, we saw signs that said, you know, streets are not homes. We had a very fiery mayor London breed against the injunction, saying that the city should be able to clear encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>London Breed: \u003c/strong>We had prepared through our city attorney to do whatever it takes to make sure we are able to do our jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>She brought up some pretty hard examples that are really, I think, get to the emotion at the core of this issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>London Breed: \u003c/strong>It is not humane to let people live on our streets in tents, use drugs. We have found dead bodies. We have found a dead baby in these tents. We have seen people in really awful conditions and we are not standing for it anymore. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>You know, some pretty horrific and heartbreaking stories. You know, she did really rally a lot of that anger that people are having with seeing the poverty that they do see on the streets of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>David Chiu \u003c/strong>Today, the city presented our case on why this injunction has been so difficult for San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>City attorney David Chiu was also there. He has been leading the case against this lawsuit and also the appeal against the injunction. You know, similarly, he said that the city’s hands have been tied when it comes to resolving these encampments that many people are complaining about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>David Chiu \u003c/strong>I think everyone understands how incredibly challenging the situation is on the streets, how frustrating it has been. You only have to look out of the windows of the Ninth Circuit Courthouse building to see what’s happening in our streets. What the city’s hoping to do is balance the compassionate care and services that we want to provide to unhoused individuals with addressing the significant street conditions that we have throughout the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>We also saw three of the city’s more moderate supervisors, their supervisor, Mandelman, Engardio, and Dorsey. They were also there supporting David Chiu and supporting Mayor Breed, essentially arguing for the city to have more flexibility to carry out these sweeps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>And I know the city says that it should have the right to sweep people out of an encampment, especially if they refuse offers of shelter or housing. Do we know how often that happens?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>That’s a hard question to answer. There are, of course, some individuals who may reject a shelter option for them. I think that that’s a reality that shouldn’t be denied. However, I think that more often there is just not shelter available or offered, or if there is shelter that’s offered, it’s not always appropriate if it’s a congregate group home where someone had stayed out previously and maybe had a really horrible experience that might not be an appropriate shelter for them. If someone is transgender and offered a shelter for a home that they do not identify with, if it’s separated by gender, that can be really harmful as well. Not to mention families or people with pets or, you know, certain disabilities that may prevent them from getting on a top bunk or something like that. This question of like what is genuine shelter and what is a real shelter offer, I think is a really important one because we know that shelter in general and housing in general is so scarce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well, it sounds like the city very much believes its hands are sort of tied under this injunction and also that a lot of the anger on this side comes from this sense that, like the city is being too lenient or too compassionate by having this injunction in place. Is that a good way, maybe to summarize?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Yeah, I think so. I’d say that that side is is really arguing for basically putting cleaning the streets before the rights of people who are homeless and are forced to live on those streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What’s next, Sydney?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>There’s still a long way to go for this case. The judge is now considering the arguments over whether to appeal the injunction, but we probably won’t have an answer on that for a couple of weeks, maybe even a couple of months. And again, that is just for the injunction. So this temporary rule that the city cannot carry out sweeps in the way that it has been doing the full lawsuit and litigating, that is going to take even longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I mean, do we know certainly whether there are implications beyond San Francisco here? Could this maybe escalate or even spread to other parts of the state that are dealing with, I mean, really the same problems that we’re seeing in San Francisco?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Yeah, I think that this has big implications for the West Coast in general. I think, you know, whether you are a lawyer trying to think about civil rights in this space, whether you are a resident trying to be compassionate or better, understand homelessness in your area and looking for solutions. I think that there is a lot of interest and certainly a lot of feelings associated with this. And I think that that has also been part of why this has gripped so many people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Sydney, thanks so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Thanks, Ericka.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was Sydney Johnson, a reporter for KQED. This 38-minute conversation with Sydney was cut down and edited by Maria Esquinca. It was produced and scored by senior editor Alan Montecillo. Thanks as well to Billy Cruz and KTVU for some of the tape that you heard in this episode. If you’re new to The Bay, what’s up? Make sure to hit subscribe wherever you are listening so you don’t miss a beat. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thank you so much for listening. Talk to you next time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\n\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003ca href=\"#episode-transcript\">\u003ci>View the full episode transcript.\u003c/i>\u003c/a>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Under what circumstances should San Francisco be able to clear homeless encampments? Last week, protesters and counter-protesters went head-to-head outside the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals over an injunction that limits the city’s ability to do that. KQED’s Sydney Johnson unpacks this legal battle, and explains why it has sparked such strong feelings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC7775726450\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-content post-body\">\u003ch2 id=\"episode-transcript\">Episode Transcript\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is a computer-generated transcript. While our team has reviewed it, there may be errors.\u003c/span>\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra, and welcome to The Bay. Local news to keep you rooted.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>London Breed: \u003c/strong>We are compassionate, we are supportive. We continue to help people. But this is not the way anything goes in San Francisco. It’s not the way.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>It was a pretty tense scene outside a courthouse in San Francisco last week where Mayor London Breed and city leaders were protesting over one big question How much should the city be able to clear homeless encampments and move the people living there? The city has been under a court order that puts limits on encampment sweeps. And people in San Francisco have strong feelings about it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Fred Winograd: \u003c/strong>Outside of my door, someone can camp and stay there and not be moved because of this injunction. But that’s harmed the residents and the businesses of this city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Terri Beswick: \u003c/strong>I love that the court took a stand on this and I hope that they stick to it and say, you know, you if you want people off the streets, you have to give them somewhere to stay.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Today, what this legal battle means for encampment sweeps in San Francisco and beyond.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>So essentially you have the Coalition on Homelessness, which is representing a group of individuals who are or were recently experiencing homelessness, who sued the city of San Francisco for essentially not following its own laws as it relates to clearing homeless encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Sydney Johnson is a reporter for KQED.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>People representing different city agencies are meant to approach the people or person who lives there and ask them, you know, would you like shelter or some sort of housing option that has to happen in these sweeps. If there isn’t someone, you know, at the their belongings, but it’s clear that someone probably is staying there. The city also has a process that is called bag and tag, where they’re supposed to actually label the items and bring them to a place in the city where individuals can actually go and retrieve them. So all of those policies that we talked about offering shelter, bagging and tagging personal items, you know, these steps that are supposed to happen before an encampment is cleared. The plaintiffs in this case argued that the city had not been doing. Now, the city argues that it does lead with services, that it does do this, it understands and it does not deny that there is a huge additional need for more housing and for more temporary shelter. But the city says, you know, we do make these offers, we do follow our policies. But it’s arguing that the lawsuit has made it even more difficult for the city to respond to those calls that it gets from residents saying, hey, I’m concerned about this, you know, encampment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>The news last week was about this injunction. Can you explain to me what is it and what did it do exactly?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Last September and 2022, that was when the lawsuit was first filed. That was when the coalition on homelessness sued the city of San Francisco just before Christmas Eve, also of last year. The judge granted a temporary injunction, which basically was a temporary order that said, hey, San Francisco, you cannot keep doing these encampment sweeps in the way that you’ve been doing it until you know this next step in the case. And that temporary injunction is still active right now. That doesn’t always mean that the city just can’t do anything right. If someone is breaking other laws while they’re sitting or lying. You know, that is a way that the city can still enforce its laws. The lawsuit came a bit to a head because there were two hearings. The city had tried to get the judge to release them from this injunction, and that was heard in a court. There were rallies happening outside on both ends, and it got pretty intense.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Protesters: \u003c/strong>[Chanting] Save our streets!\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>News Anchor: \u003c/strong>Even before the hearing before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals got underway. Both sides were arguing…\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>There were some videos of people shouting directly at each other. However, you know, it did, I think, speak to just some of the frustration and also passion that people in San Francisco and across California right now really are feeling about this issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well, let’s dig into that a little bit more. Sydney, I want to start with the people who came out for this injunction, which to be clear means that they oppose the city doing sweeps more aggressively. Who came out last week on this side? Like, who is at the courthouse?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>So definitely lawyers from the ACLU and other attorneys who are representing the Coalition on homelessness were there. So all of those policies that we talked about just a minute ago, you know, these steps that are supposed to happen before an encampment is cleared. The plaintiffs in this case argued that the city had not been doing. In some circumstances, they said that city agencies would maybe just sort of wave a hand at shelter, not really genuinely offer it. In addition, they also had a lot of evidence showing that that bagging and tagging process was not being followed as well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Zal Shroff \u003c/strong>Unhoused folks have a constitutional right against being policed out of sight just because they have no housing to go to.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Zal Shroff is the interim legal director with the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area. He’s been really involved in this case and essentially argues that San Francisco has not been following its own laws that are on the books and its own policies around what it can and can’t do to clear homeless encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Zal Shroff \u003c/strong>So you can’t go around seizing and destroying people’s tents. You have to safeguard their property. You have to store it. You have to give an opportunity to recover it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>It’s all essentially walked me through some examples where the city has, you know, flagrantly just disregarded some of those bag and tag policies. You know, told me some pretty heartbreaking stories of people who had lost really important medications, devices that they use to contact family members or even sign up for shelter, since that’s an online system now and that they had lost these items without much recourse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Zal Shroff \u003c/strong>The injunction goal was to have a disciplining effect to make sure the city’s goals were actually aligned with its actions, to make sure that when we actually approach an encampment, we have enough shelter. Folks, we are successful in getting them off the streets and into shelter and housing and the actually improving street homelessness conditions. That has not been the experience since the injunction because it’s very unclear whether or not they’re following it.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>He is is really trying to underscore. Or that this lawsuit is not about just allowing the streets to delve into chaos. I don’t think anyone wants that. But, you know, he and others who are supporting this case say that the city needs to come up with actual solutions if it’s going to force people to move. And also just acknowledging the harm that is caused by forcing people to move.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Zal Shroff \u003c/strong>You know, I think we are, in a way talking past each other about the root causes of the homelessness crisis and also what causes street homelessness, because, of course, we know that a lack of access to shelter and a lack of access to affordable housing is the cause of the street homelessness crisis. And yet we have a huge gap in terms of what the city has been able to offer to actually mitigate that issue. And we see a real scapegoating about how people who are a problem that is really decades in the making.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well, let’s talk about the other side of this debate. Who was at the courthouse on that side.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>The opposing rally that was there last week was really arguing for being able to clear encampments under most circumstances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>London Breed: \u003c/strong>We are compassionate. We are supportive.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Outside the courthouse, we saw signs that said, you know, streets are not homes. We had a very fiery mayor London breed against the injunction, saying that the city should be able to clear encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>London Breed: \u003c/strong>We had prepared through our city attorney to do whatever it takes to make sure we are able to do our jobs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>She brought up some pretty hard examples that are really, I think, get to the emotion at the core of this issue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>London Breed: \u003c/strong>It is not humane to let people live on our streets in tents, use drugs. We have found dead bodies. We have found a dead baby in these tents. We have seen people in really awful conditions and we are not standing for it anymore. I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>You know, some pretty horrific and heartbreaking stories. You know, she did really rally a lot of that anger that people are having with seeing the poverty that they do see on the streets of San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>David Chiu \u003c/strong>Today, the city presented our case on why this injunction has been so difficult for San Francisco.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>City attorney David Chiu was also there. He has been leading the case against this lawsuit and also the appeal against the injunction. You know, similarly, he said that the city’s hands have been tied when it comes to resolving these encampments that many people are complaining about.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>David Chiu \u003c/strong>I think everyone understands how incredibly challenging the situation is on the streets, how frustrating it has been. You only have to look out of the windows of the Ninth Circuit Courthouse building to see what’s happening in our streets. What the city’s hoping to do is balance the compassionate care and services that we want to provide to unhoused individuals with addressing the significant street conditions that we have throughout the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>We also saw three of the city’s more moderate supervisors, their supervisor, Mandelman, Engardio, and Dorsey. They were also there supporting David Chiu and supporting Mayor Breed, essentially arguing for the city to have more flexibility to carry out these sweeps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>And I know the city says that it should have the right to sweep people out of an encampment, especially if they refuse offers of shelter or housing. Do we know how often that happens?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>That’s a hard question to answer. There are, of course, some individuals who may reject a shelter option for them. I think that that’s a reality that shouldn’t be denied. However, I think that more often there is just not shelter available or offered, or if there is shelter that’s offered, it’s not always appropriate if it’s a congregate group home where someone had stayed out previously and maybe had a really horrible experience that might not be an appropriate shelter for them. If someone is transgender and offered a shelter for a home that they do not identify with, if it’s separated by gender, that can be really harmful as well. Not to mention families or people with pets or, you know, certain disabilities that may prevent them from getting on a top bunk or something like that. This question of like what is genuine shelter and what is a real shelter offer, I think is a really important one because we know that shelter in general and housing in general is so scarce.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Well, it sounds like the city very much believes its hands are sort of tied under this injunction and also that a lot of the anger on this side comes from this sense that, like the city is being too lenient or too compassionate by having this injunction in place. Is that a good way, maybe to summarize?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Yeah, I think so. I’d say that that side is is really arguing for basically putting cleaning the streets before the rights of people who are homeless and are forced to live on those streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>What’s next, Sydney?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>There’s still a long way to go for this case. The judge is now considering the arguments over whether to appeal the injunction, but we probably won’t have an answer on that for a couple of weeks, maybe even a couple of months. And again, that is just for the injunction. So this temporary rule that the city cannot carry out sweeps in the way that it has been doing the full lawsuit and litigating, that is going to take even longer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>I mean, do we know certainly whether there are implications beyond San Francisco here? Could this maybe escalate or even spread to other parts of the state that are dealing with, I mean, really the same problems that we’re seeing in San Francisco?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Yeah, I think that this has big implications for the West Coast in general. I think, you know, whether you are a lawyer trying to think about civil rights in this space, whether you are a resident trying to be compassionate or better, understand homelessness in your area and looking for solutions. I think that there is a lot of interest and certainly a lot of feelings associated with this. And I think that that has also been part of why this has gripped so many people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>Sydney, thanks so much.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Sydney Johnson: \u003c/strong>Thanks, Ericka.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003cstrong>Ericka Cruz Guevarra: \u003c/strong>That was Sydney Johnson, a reporter for KQED. This 38-minute conversation with Sydney was cut down and edited by Maria Esquinca. It was produced and scored by senior editor Alan Montecillo. Thanks as well to Billy Cruz and KTVU for some of the tape that you heard in this episode. If you’re new to The Bay, what’s up? Make sure to hit subscribe wherever you are listening so you don’t miss a beat. I’m Ericka Cruz Guevarra. Thank you so much for listening. Talk to you next time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp style=\"font-weight: 400\">\n\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>"
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"title": "Advocates Argue San Francisco is Violating Encampment Clearing Ban; Judge Says They're Not — For Now",
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"content": "\u003cp>An effort to more strongly enforce an ongoing ban on homeless encampment sweeps in San Francisco won’t be happening just yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, a district court judge said the city was not violating some of its policies when it came to a ban on clearing homeless encampments — but she requested more information on other policies before she could rule on the entire motion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearing on Thursday was held over a \u003ca href=\"https://lccrsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Ps-Motion-to-Enforce-PI-Order-and-Declarations.pdf\">motion (PDF)\u003c/a> meant to more strongly enforce a \u003ca href=\"https://lccrsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2022.12.23-65-ORDER-on-Preliminary-Injunction.pdf\">temporary injunction (PDF)\u003c/a>, which stops the city from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958939/sf-homelessness-lawsuit-faces-critical-hearing-over-sweeps-ban\">indiscriminately sweeping the streets of people who are unhoused\u003c/a>. This is just part of an ongoing legal battle, which had a separate hearing earlier in the week over whether the injunction should be lifted or not.[aside postID=news_11950967,news_11958939,news_11926891 label='More on Homeless Encampment Sweeps']The Coalition on Homelessness, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11926891/unhoused-san-francisco-residents-sue-city-over-displacement-rights-violations\">sued San Francisco in September 2022\u003c/a>, brought forward this motion. They’re arguing that the city has been violating the temporary ban on clearing homeless encampments, which was originally ordered by the same U.S. Magistrate Judge, Donna Ryu, in December 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Ryu ruled that the city was not violating a clause in the injunction that stops the city from “threatening to enforce” certain laws that prevent someone from sitting, lying or camping on sidewalks or other public spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the judge delayed ruling on claims that the city has been violating its own so-called \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfpublicworks.org/services/bag-and-tag-process#:~:text=Public%20Works%20%E2%80%9Cbag%20and%20tag,will%20record%20thedate%20of%20disposal.\">“bag and tag” policies\u003c/a> during routine street cleanups and permissible encampment resolutions. The judge will review those claims after receiving additional information from the defendants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When city agencies, like the Department of Public Works, clear a homeless encampment or an individual’s sleeping site but no one is present, they are required to bag and tag personal belongings so the individual can later retrieve them. Whether they are doing so or not is what’s under review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s likely there are DPW workers who bag and tag, but it also appears some are not. Some of the instances I called out are pretty clear and pretty blatant,” Ryu said in Thursday’s hearing. “I have a concern that at least the training should be more robust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge ordered attorneys representing the city to submit more information by Sept. 22 on how it responds to calls regarding homeless encampments — including how many officers interact with unhoused people and if the city would consider adding more training for those officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge also requested more information on what type of training DPW workers received about the original injunction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ryu said that plaintiffs could retry their motion around threats of enforcement, but that they would need stronger arguments and analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seems to me that clearer communication, uniform communication, would be helpful across the board to the people of San Francisco,” Ryu said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday’s hearing followed another major hearing in the lawsuit that took place on Wednesday, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958939/sf-homelessness-lawsuit-faces-critical-hearing-over-sweeps-ban\">a three-judge panel heard arguments\u003c/a> over whether to consider appealing the same temporary injunction \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11950967/advocates-for-unhoused-san-franciscans-say-encampment-sweeps-continue-despite-court-order-call-on-judge-to-rein-city-in\">that prevents the city from moving unhoused people under certain circumstances\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11959129\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2023/08/24/judge-partially-denies-motion-to-more-strictly-enforce-ban-on-homeless-encampment-sweeps/rs68257_20230822-homelesslawsuit-15-jy-qut/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11959129\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11959129\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"a group of people hold up signs in front of a court building, one man yells into a megaphone\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey speaks at a rally in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Dorsey voiced his opposition of the injunction filed by the Coalition on Homelessness, which has temporarily kept city workers from removing encampments on the streets. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In that hearing, plaintiffs and judges clarified that a person who denies genuine offers of shelter during an encampment clearing would no longer be considered “involuntarily homeless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The distinction between who is or isn’t involuntarily homeless is important because the injunction only bans sweeps of those who are involuntarily homeless, meaning that if someone refuses shelter, the city can proceed to enforce its laws against sitting, lying or camping in public spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s appeal to remove the injunction is still processing, and it will likely be several months before a decision is made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several city leaders showed up to support the city attorney’s effort to appeal the injunction on Wednesday, including Mayor Breed and three moderate supervisors, saying the ban has stymied the city’s ability to clear streets and sidewalks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community members and homeless advocates also rallied in front of the courthouse Wednesday, saying that the injunction is necessary to stop unlawful sweeps and bring about more effective solutions to the homeless crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Thursday’s hearing, Gov. Gavin Newsom released a public statement in support of striking down the injunction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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,” Newsom said. “I urge the courts to empower local communities to address street encampments quickly and comprehensively.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "A district judge found the city was not violating some of its policies, but others aspects remain undecided. ",
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"title": "Advocates Argue San Francisco is Violating Encampment Clearing Ban; Judge Says They're Not — For Now | KQED",
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"headline": "Advocates Argue San Francisco is Violating Encampment Clearing Ban; Judge Says They're Not — For Now",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>An effort to more strongly enforce an ongoing ban on homeless encampment sweeps in San Francisco won’t be happening just yet.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Thursday, a district court judge said the city was not violating some of its policies when it came to a ban on clearing homeless encampments — but she requested more information on other policies before she could rule on the entire motion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The hearing on Thursday was held over a \u003ca href=\"https://lccrsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/Ps-Motion-to-Enforce-PI-Order-and-Declarations.pdf\">motion (PDF)\u003c/a> meant to more strongly enforce a \u003ca href=\"https://lccrsf.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/2022.12.23-65-ORDER-on-Preliminary-Injunction.pdf\">temporary injunction (PDF)\u003c/a>, which stops the city from \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958939/sf-homelessness-lawsuit-faces-critical-hearing-over-sweeps-ban\">indiscriminately sweeping the streets of people who are unhoused\u003c/a>. This is just part of an ongoing legal battle, which had a separate hearing earlier in the week over whether the injunction should be lifted or not.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The Coalition on Homelessness, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11926891/unhoused-san-francisco-residents-sue-city-over-displacement-rights-violations\">sued San Francisco in September 2022\u003c/a>, brought forward this motion. They’re arguing that the city has been violating the temporary ban on clearing homeless encampments, which was originally ordered by the same U.S. Magistrate Judge, Donna Ryu, in December 2022.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Today, Ryu ruled that the city was not violating a clause in the injunction that stops the city from “threatening to enforce” certain laws that prevent someone from sitting, lying or camping on sidewalks or other public spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the judge delayed ruling on claims that the city has been violating its own so-called \u003ca href=\"https://www.sfpublicworks.org/services/bag-and-tag-process#:~:text=Public%20Works%20%E2%80%9Cbag%20and%20tag,will%20record%20thedate%20of%20disposal.\">“bag and tag” policies\u003c/a> during routine street cleanups and permissible encampment resolutions. The judge will review those claims after receiving additional information from the defendants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When city agencies, like the Department of Public Works, clear a homeless encampment or an individual’s sleeping site but no one is present, they are required to bag and tag personal belongings so the individual can later retrieve them. Whether they are doing so or not is what’s under review.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s likely there are DPW workers who bag and tag, but it also appears some are not. Some of the instances I called out are pretty clear and pretty blatant,” Ryu said in Thursday’s hearing. “I have a concern that at least the training should be more robust.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge ordered attorneys representing the city to submit more information by Sept. 22 on how it responds to calls regarding homeless encampments — including how many officers interact with unhoused people and if the city would consider adding more training for those officers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The judge also requested more information on what type of training DPW workers received about the original injunction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Ryu said that plaintiffs could retry their motion around threats of enforcement, but that they would need stronger arguments and analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It seems to me that clearer communication, uniform communication, would be helpful across the board to the people of San Francisco,” Ryu said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thursday’s hearing followed another major hearing in the lawsuit that took place on Wednesday, when \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11958939/sf-homelessness-lawsuit-faces-critical-hearing-over-sweeps-ban\">a three-judge panel heard arguments\u003c/a> over whether to consider appealing the same temporary injunction \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11950967/advocates-for-unhoused-san-franciscans-say-encampment-sweeps-continue-despite-court-order-call-on-judge-to-rein-city-in\">that prevents the city from moving unhoused people under certain circumstances\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11959129\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/news/2023/08/24/judge-partially-denies-motion-to-more-strictly-enforce-ban-on-homeless-encampment-sweeps/rs68257_20230822-homelesslawsuit-15-jy-qut/\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-11959129\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11959129\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut.jpg\" alt=\"a group of people hold up signs in front of a court building, one man yells into a megaphone\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68257_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-15-JY-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">District 6 Supervisor Matt Dorsey speaks at a rally in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. Dorsey voiced his opposition of the injunction filed by the Coalition on Homelessness, which has temporarily kept city workers from removing encampments on the streets. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In that hearing, plaintiffs and judges clarified that a person who denies genuine offers of shelter during an encampment clearing would no longer be considered “involuntarily homeless.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The distinction between who is or isn’t involuntarily homeless is important because the injunction only bans sweeps of those who are involuntarily homeless, meaning that if someone refuses shelter, the city can proceed to enforce its laws against sitting, lying or camping in public spaces.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city’s appeal to remove the injunction is still processing, and it will likely be several months before a decision is made.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several city leaders showed up to support the city attorney’s effort to appeal the injunction on Wednesday, including Mayor Breed and three moderate supervisors, saying the ban has stymied the city’s ability to clear streets and sidewalks.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Community members and homeless advocates also rallied in front of the courthouse Wednesday, saying that the injunction is necessary to stop unlawful sweeps and bring about more effective solutions to the homeless crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After Thursday’s hearing, Gov. Gavin Newsom released a public statement in support of striking down the injunction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“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,” Newsom said. “I urge the courts to empower local communities to address street encampments quickly and comprehensively.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'An Impossible Situation': Tensions Rise as Federal Court Weighs Legality of SF Encampment Sweeps",
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"headTitle": "‘An Impossible Situation’: Tensions Rise as Federal Court Weighs Legality of SF Encampment Sweeps | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cp>Protesters and counterprotesters went head-to-head outside the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday, where a panel of three judges heard arguments over whether to appeal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11950967/advocates-for-unhoused-san-franciscans-say-encampment-sweeps-continue-despite-court-order-call-on-judge-to-rein-city-in\">an injunction that prevents the city from moving unhoused people\u003c/a> under certain circumstances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11926891/unhoused-san-francisco-residents-sue-city-over-displacement-rights-violations\">The legal battle started in September 2022\u003c/a>, when the Coalition on Homelessness sued San Francisco for violating the city’s own ordinances around clearing encampments. Attorneys for the coalition, representing both the ACLU and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, argue that the city has violated federal precedent by not providing appropriate shelter before removing unhoused people, and that it trashed personal belongings during its sweeps.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Zal Shroff, interim legal director for the Lawyers Committee\"]‘They have cited and arrested thousands of unhoused people whose only crime was having nowhere else to go when the city obviously did not have shelter to offer them.’[/pullquote]“They have cited and arrested thousands of unhoused people whose only crime was having nowhere else to go when the city obviously did not have shelter to offer them,” Zal Shroff, interim legal director for the Lawyers Committee, told KQED in an interview before the hearing. “You can still clean the streets, you can enforce your drug laws, you can enforce your accessibility laws, clear all safety hazards, but you can’t keep policing unhoused people from block to block solely for the crime of being too poor to afford a home, when you obviously haven’t given them a place to go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions were high outside the packed courthouse, where more than 100 people rallied both for and against the injunction while surrounded by a significant police presence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are compassionate, we are supportive, we continue to help people. But this is not the way,” Mayor London Breed said outside the courthouse on Wednesday. “It is not humane to let people live on our streets in tents, use drugs. We have found dead bodies, we found a dead body in these tents. We have seen people in really awful conditions and we are not standing for it anymore. The goal here is to make sure that the court of appeals understands we want a reversal of this injunction that makes it impossible for us to do our jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11958935\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11958935 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Police and protesters with sign stand in front of a San Francisco building.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protesters, counterprotesters, and SFPD are seen at a rally in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. The court is hearing arguments for the city’s appeal of an injunction filed by the Coalition on Homelessness, which has temporarily kept city workers from removing encampments on the streets. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco resident Fred Winograd showed up to the rally to protest the injunction. “It’s unfair to the people on the street and it’s unfair to the city,” Winograd told KQED. “Outside of my door someone can camp and stay there and not be moved because of this injunction. That’s harmful to the residents and businesses of this city, and it’s got to stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others, like Terri Beswick, came to show their support for the Coalition on Homelessness and its lawsuit. “I love that the court took a stand on this and I hope they stick to it,” Beswick said. “If you want people off the streets, you have to give them somewhere to stay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wednesday’s hearing laid out initial arguments, but it could be several months before the panel of judges issue their ruling over the injunction, which was first issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City Attorney David Chiu formally appealed the injunction in January 2023, with the backing of Mayor Breed, multiple city supervisors and a coalition of residents and business owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are trying to address the conditions on the street and this lawsuit makes it harder to do so,” Chiu told KQED. “There are a number of issues with the injunction, which we believe is unnecessarily broad, exceeds legal precedent and has strained our city’s ability to meet practical and legal obligations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plaintiffs maintain that the city can clean its sidewalks and enforce its sit-lie laws so long as shelter is offered and personal belongings are protected. If someone refuses shelter, the plaintiffs said the city could then enforce its laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the city is far from meeting the need for temporary shelter beds or permanent supportive housing.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Mayor London Breed\"]‘It is not humane to let people live on our streets in tents, use drugs.’[/pullquote]As of Aug. 23, there were \u003ca href=\"https://hsh.sfgov.org/services/how-to-get-services/accessing-temporary-shelter/adult-temporary-shelter/shelter-reservation-waitlist/\">448 people\u003c/a> on the waiting list for the city’s recently-opened shelter request system. San Francisco has 7,754 people experiencing homelessness, and at least 4,397 of them living outside as opposed to a shelter, according to the latest citywide count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the city has roughly 3,500 shelter beds in its system. (During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 2,000 additional beds were brought online through programs like the Shelter-In-Place Hotel program, but that program has since ended.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email, Chiu estimated that it could cost $1.45 billion, on top of several years of building and planning, to erect enough shelter for everyone who needs it in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The injunction has put our City in an impossible situation, ignoring the necessary balance between providing compassionate services and shelter to unhoused people and maintaining safe and healthy streets for all,” Chiu said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, attorneys representing the city said the injunction was overly broad and left questions as to what options the city has to address street homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In particular, defendants questioned the judges’ definition of “involuntarily homeless,” arguing that the injunction language is not clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The injunction “does not define ‘involuntarily homeless,’ which has created uncertainty about whether the City can enforce laws against those who refuse shelter or have shelter beds but choose to maintain tents on the street,” Chiu said in a press statement ahead of the hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is especially problematic as over half of the unhoused individuals approached by City workers reject offers of shelter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joseph Lee, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said at the hearing that a person could no longer be considered “involuntarily homeless” if they are offered but decline a genuine shelter option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The actual limitation for who the injunction protects is limited to involuntarily homeless individuals,” Lee said. “The city used these laws not in the way that they are intended or in the way that their policy describes they can be used, but used it as a pretext to criminalize homeless individuals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11958936\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11958936\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"People holding signs stand in front of a grey building.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protesters and counterprotesters gather at a rally in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Right after the hearing, Chiu said that his team was “pleasantly surprised to receive this major concession from Plaintiffs during oral argument today,” referring to the clarity over involuntary homelessness. “It never made sense that a person who rejected a shelter offer or had a shelter bed but chose to maintain tents on the street should be considered ‘involuntarily homeless,’” he wrote in a press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city also argued that precedents established in similar cases including \u003ca href=\"https://homelesslaw.org/supreme-court-martin-v-boise/\">Martin v. Boise\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2022/09/28/20-35752.pdf\">Johnson v. Grants Pass (PDF)\u003c/a> should not apply to San Francisco. In broad terms, those cases found that public agencies can’t enforce public sidewalk sleeping or camping laws if there is no shelter or housing alternative available. The city’s attorney said San Francisco is different because its laws allow for people to sleep outside in certain settings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But San Francisco has several laws governing and preventing sidewalk camping and sleeping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2010, voters approved a “sit-lie” law that prohibits sitting or lying on public sidewalks between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., with certain exceptions. In 2013, the city amended another ordinance to ban sleeping in parks from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If someone is not with their belongings, the city is required to bag and tag items rather than tossing them to the dump during an encampment sweep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11958937\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11958937\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"'More homes less cops' is written in pink chalk\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘More homes less cops’ is written in chalk on the sidewalk during a rally in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Multiple lawsuits were filed earlier this year on behalf of homeless residents who said they lost clothes, cell phones or laptops, sleeping gear, family heirlooms and other important personal items during sweeps. As of February, the city had paid out more than $100,000 in claims to unhoused people in more than 20 different cases, the \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2023/02/21/gold-chains-designer-clothes-family-heirlooms-homeless-san-franciscans-sue-the-city-for-thousands-in-lost-property/\">\u003cem>San Francisco Standard\u003c/em> reports\u003c/a>.[aside tag=\"homeless, unhoused\" label=\"More Related Stories\"]Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who spoke at the rally on Wednesday in support of ending the injunction, has proposed legislation, called “A Place for All,” that would dramatically expand the number of temporary shelter beds, including the use of tiny homes and other non-congregate options. But reception to that response has been mixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, we need more shelter, but it needs to be coupled with housing and prevention, otherwise it’s inefficient and we waste city dollars,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness. “Most (permanent) housing options are cheaper than shelter. And it’s not faster to create a shelter program than it would be to expand our section 8 program either.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next, on Thursday, August 24, the district court will hear a motion to enforce the injunction brought by plaintiffs, alleging the city violated the sweeps ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Billy Cruz contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "City leaders say the lawsuit stops them from clearing homeless encampments on sidewalks. Plaintiffs say the city isn’t following its own laws. ",
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"title": "'An Impossible Situation': Tensions Rise as Federal Court Weighs Legality of SF Encampment Sweeps | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Protesters and counterprotesters went head-to-head outside the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday, where a panel of three judges heard arguments over whether to appeal \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11950967/advocates-for-unhoused-san-franciscans-say-encampment-sweeps-continue-despite-court-order-call-on-judge-to-rein-city-in\">an injunction that prevents the city from moving unhoused people\u003c/a> under certain circumstances.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11926891/unhoused-san-francisco-residents-sue-city-over-displacement-rights-violations\">The legal battle started in September 2022\u003c/a>, when the Coalition on Homelessness sued San Francisco for violating the city’s own ordinances around clearing encampments. Attorneys for the coalition, representing both the ACLU and Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights of the San Francisco Bay Area, argue that the city has violated federal precedent by not providing appropriate shelter before removing unhoused people, and that it trashed personal belongings during its sweeps.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘They have cited and arrested thousands of unhoused people whose only crime was having nowhere else to go when the city obviously did not have shelter to offer them.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“They have cited and arrested thousands of unhoused people whose only crime was having nowhere else to go when the city obviously did not have shelter to offer them,” Zal Shroff, interim legal director for the Lawyers Committee, told KQED in an interview before the hearing. “You can still clean the streets, you can enforce your drug laws, you can enforce your accessibility laws, clear all safety hazards, but you can’t keep policing unhoused people from block to block solely for the crime of being too poor to afford a home, when you obviously haven’t given them a place to go.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tensions were high outside the packed courthouse, where more than 100 people rallied both for and against the injunction while surrounded by a significant police presence.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are compassionate, we are supportive, we continue to help people. But this is not the way,” Mayor London Breed said outside the courthouse on Wednesday. “It is not humane to let people live on our streets in tents, use drugs. We have found dead bodies, we found a dead body in these tents. We have seen people in really awful conditions and we are not standing for it anymore. The goal here is to make sure that the court of appeals understands we want a reversal of this injunction that makes it impossible for us to do our jobs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11958935\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11958935 size-medium\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"Police and protesters with sign stand in front of a San Francisco building.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68263_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-17-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protesters, counterprotesters, and SFPD are seen at a rally in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday, Aug. 23, 2023. The court is hearing arguments for the city’s appeal of an injunction filed by the Coalition on Homelessness, which has temporarily kept city workers from removing encampments on the streets. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>San Francisco resident Fred Winograd showed up to the rally to protest the injunction. “It’s unfair to the people on the street and it’s unfair to the city,” Winograd told KQED. “Outside of my door someone can camp and stay there and not be moved because of this injunction. That’s harmful to the residents and businesses of this city, and it’s got to stop.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Others, like Terri Beswick, came to show their support for the Coalition on Homelessness and its lawsuit. “I love that the court took a stand on this and I hope they stick to it,” Beswick said. “If you want people off the streets, you have to give them somewhere to stay.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wednesday’s hearing laid out initial arguments, but it could be several months before the panel of judges issue their ruling over the injunction, which was first issued by U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna Ryu.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>City Attorney David Chiu formally appealed the injunction in January 2023, with the backing of Mayor Breed, multiple city supervisors and a coalition of residents and business owners.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are trying to address the conditions on the street and this lawsuit makes it harder to do so,” Chiu told KQED. “There are a number of issues with the injunction, which we believe is unnecessarily broad, exceeds legal precedent and has strained our city’s ability to meet practical and legal obligations.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Plaintiffs maintain that the city can clean its sidewalks and enforce its sit-lie laws so long as shelter is offered and personal belongings are protected. If someone refuses shelter, the plaintiffs said the city could then enforce its laws.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the city is far from meeting the need for temporary shelter beds or permanent supportive housing.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>As of Aug. 23, there were \u003ca href=\"https://hsh.sfgov.org/services/how-to-get-services/accessing-temporary-shelter/adult-temporary-shelter/shelter-reservation-waitlist/\">448 people\u003c/a> on the waiting list for the city’s recently-opened shelter request system. San Francisco has 7,754 people experiencing homelessness, and at least 4,397 of them living outside as opposed to a shelter, according to the latest citywide count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Meanwhile, the city has roughly 3,500 shelter beds in its system. (During the COVID-19 pandemic, more than 2,000 additional beds were brought online through programs like the Shelter-In-Place Hotel program, but that program has since ended.)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In an email, Chiu estimated that it could cost $1.45 billion, on top of several years of building and planning, to erect enough shelter for everyone who needs it in the city.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The injunction has put our City in an impossible situation, ignoring the necessary balance between providing compassionate services and shelter to unhoused people and maintaining safe and healthy streets for all,” Chiu said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Wednesday, attorneys representing the city said the injunction was overly broad and left questions as to what options the city has to address street homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In particular, defendants questioned the judges’ definition of “involuntarily homeless,” arguing that the injunction language is not clear.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The injunction “does not define ‘involuntarily homeless,’ which has created uncertainty about whether the City can enforce laws against those who refuse shelter or have shelter beds but choose to maintain tents on the street,” Chiu said in a press statement ahead of the hearing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This is especially problematic as over half of the unhoused individuals approached by City workers reject offers of shelter.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Joseph Lee, the attorney representing the plaintiffs, said at the hearing that a person could no longer be considered “involuntarily homeless” if they are offered but decline a genuine shelter option.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The actual limitation for who the injunction protects is limited to involuntarily homeless individuals,” Lee said. “The city used these laws not in the way that they are intended or in the way that their policy describes they can be used, but used it as a pretext to criminalize homeless individuals.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11958936\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11958936\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"People holding signs stand in front of a grey building.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68264_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-24-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Protesters and counterprotesters gather at a rally in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Right after the hearing, Chiu said that his team was “pleasantly surprised to receive this major concession from Plaintiffs during oral argument today,” referring to the clarity over involuntary homelessness. “It never made sense that a person who rejected a shelter offer or had a shelter bed but chose to maintain tents on the street should be considered ‘involuntarily homeless,’” he wrote in a press release.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The city also argued that precedents established in similar cases including \u003ca href=\"https://homelesslaw.org/supreme-court-martin-v-boise/\">Martin v. Boise\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"https://cdn.ca9.uscourts.gov/datastore/opinions/2022/09/28/20-35752.pdf\">Johnson v. Grants Pass (PDF)\u003c/a> should not apply to San Francisco. In broad terms, those cases found that public agencies can’t enforce public sidewalk sleeping or camping laws if there is no shelter or housing alternative available. The city’s attorney said San Francisco is different because its laws allow for people to sleep outside in certain settings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But San Francisco has several laws governing and preventing sidewalk camping and sleeping.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In 2010, voters approved a “sit-lie” law that prohibits sitting or lying on public sidewalks between 7 a.m. and 11 p.m., with certain exceptions. In 2013, the city amended another ordinance to ban sleeping in parks from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If someone is not with their belongings, the city is required to bag and tag items rather than tossing them to the dump during an encampment sweep.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11958937\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11958937\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"'More homes less cops' is written in pink chalk\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/08/RS68271_20230822-HomelessLawsuit-31-JY-KQED.jpg 2000w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">‘More homes less cops’ is written in chalk on the sidewalk during a rally in front of the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in San Francisco on Wednesday. \u003ccite>(Juliana Yamada/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Multiple lawsuits were filed earlier this year on behalf of homeless residents who said they lost clothes, cell phones or laptops, sleeping gear, family heirlooms and other important personal items during sweeps. As of February, the city had paid out more than $100,000 in claims to unhoused people in more than 20 different cases, the \u003ca href=\"https://sfstandard.com/2023/02/21/gold-chains-designer-clothes-family-heirlooms-homeless-san-franciscans-sue-the-city-for-thousands-in-lost-property/\">\u003cem>San Francisco Standard\u003c/em> reports\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who spoke at the rally on Wednesday in support of ending the injunction, has proposed legislation, called “A Place for All,” that would dramatically expand the number of temporary shelter beds, including the use of tiny homes and other non-congregate options. But reception to that response has been mixed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Yes, we need more shelter, but it needs to be coupled with housing and prevention, otherwise it’s inefficient and we waste city dollars,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness. “Most (permanent) housing options are cheaper than shelter. And it’s not faster to create a shelter program than it would be to expand our section 8 program either.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Next, on Thursday, August 24, the district court will hear a motion to enforce the injunction brought by plaintiffs, alleging the city violated the sweeps ban.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>KQED’s Billy Cruz contributed to this report.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>In a major about-face, Gov. Gavin Newsom gave ground this week on his signature mental health plan, aiming to appease critics who have argued his overhaul would starve youth services and other county-run programs of millions of dollars of tax revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal is the second time in as many years that Newsom has advocated for significant changes to the state’s behavioral health system, following the passage of last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/07/care-court-california/\">controversial CARE Court law\u003c/a>. This year’s proposal aims to update the Mental Health Services Act, a 20-year-old ballot initiative that has raised billions of dollars per year for mental health programs through a tax on high incomes. The tax funds nearly one-third of the state’s mental health infrastructure and raised $4.8 billion last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At its crux, Newsom’s proposal would require counties to spend two-thirds of revenue from the tax on housing and 24/7 services for the state’s severely mentally ill homeless population. That equates to roughly $3.1 billion based on last year’s Mental Health Services Act revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the concessions introduced this week would loosen the definition of the “housing interventions” counties would be required to fund, reinstate some local spending flexibility, remove a requirement to add services for people suffering from addiction, and carve out money for children and youth programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s reform needs more than legislative buy-in. It also requires voter support to change the original ballot initiative. His pitch to voters: Redirect some of the money in an effort to help address California’s out-of-control homelessness crisis. The \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2023/04/california-homeless-spending-audit/\">state has spent more than $20 billion\u003c/a> on homelessness in the past five years with little impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, key mental health advocates remain skeptical. Many of the organizations that voiced concerns with the initial proposal say the recent amendments are “weak” and continue to stretch vital resources too thin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re still slicing up the too-small pie,” said Clare Cortright, policy director for Cal Voices, a coalition of mental health peer support organizations. “What happens to the people with services now? What happens to the people with housing now?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan, which mental health groups have criticized for being rushed, will get its first full legislative hearing next week. Lawmakers then would have four weeks before the end of the session to decide whether to place the measure on the March 2024 ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom argues that his administration has spent “years preparing for this” overhaul in tandem with other major changes to the state’s health care delivery system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve organized this very deliberatively,” Newsom told reporters last week. “This is very methodical, very focused. It’s not ready, fire, aim. It’s ready, aim, fire. It’s long overdue, and the consequences of neglect, delay denial — it’s too great.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What Newsom’s mental health amendments allow\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While Tuesday night’s amendments preserve the most significant change Newsom put forward — that a majority of the money be used on housing interventions and intensive services for unhoused people — it offers counties more local control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amended proposal:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Allows counties to transfer some money between spending categories like housing and prevention.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Offers small counties with more volatile year-to-year budgets exemptions from meeting some mandates.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Increases the amount of money allocated to the “flexible” spending bucket by 5%.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Expands the definition of housing interventions to include a wide range of social services like housing navigation rather than only “hard” costs like rent.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Requires 51% of money spent on prevention programs go toward children and youth.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Reinstates some of the power previously stripped from the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Committee.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen some changes and certainly changes that seem helpful in moving to ameliorate some of the concerns that we’ve had. However, there’s also a bunch of new stuff in here that we’re trying to figure out,” said Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez, chief policy officer for the California State Association of Counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County leaders and behavioral health directors are most concerned with proposed minimum spending mandates that are funded through volatile income tax revenue. The Mental Health Services Act levies a 1% tax on earnings over $1 million, an income bracket that depends on capital gains. They have also questioned how many existing services would be cut to meet the new housing mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amendments come on the heels of several \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4782\">Legislative Analyst’s Office briefs\u003c/a> that estimated $718 million would be stripped from existing county mental health programs, including children and youth early intervention services, to fund the proposed housing mandate. The briefs said the Newsom administration gave “incomplete justification” for the changes without an impact analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Momentum builds from youth advocates\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite Newsom investing significant political capital into pushing this reform, it became increasingly difficult to ignore the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/06/mental-health-funding-2/\">opposition of children’s mental health advocates,\u003c/a> who said the governor was unnecessarily pitting the needs of the state’s homeless population against children’s mental services. Prevention and early intervention services would take the biggest cuts, they said, ultimately \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/series/california-mental-health/\">worsening a parallel mental health crisis\u003c/a>.[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Adrienne Shilton, lobbyist, California Alliance of Child and Family Services\"]‘We’re moving in a positive direction here … The administration has come a long way in partnership with us.’[/pullquote]Last week a coalition of nearly 300 groups representing local mental health agencies, school districts, and family resource centers among others, sent a letter to Newsom and Senate Health Committee Chair Susan Talamantes-Eggman, urging them to continue funding programs targeting ages 0 to 25. Eggman, a Democrat from Stockton, is carrying the bill that would place Newsom’s proposal on the ballot and was instrumental in passing Newsom’s CARE Court legislation last year. Eggman has not responded to multiple requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For years, children’s advocates have worked to ensure (this) funding prioritizes children and youth given the historic lack of focus on this population,” the letter states. “We are deeply concerned by the current proposal … to severely limit and reroute hard fought investments away from child-serving programs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amendments address the primary concerns raised by the coalition and preserve a majority of the roughly $448 million spent on children and youth mental health programs annually, said Adrienne Shilton, a lobbyist for the California Alliance of Child and Family Services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re moving in a positive direction here,” Shilton said. “The administration has come a long way in partnership with us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom administration officials contend that the proposal is part of a larger effort to remake the state’s health care system. They point to last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/03/california-children-mental-health-crisis/?series=california-mental-health\">$4.3 billion budget allocation for children and youth mental health services\u003c/a> and Medi-Cal as alternate funding sources for current programs. But advocates say a majority of that investment comes from one-time allocations and integral programs like family support groups, parenting classes and suicide prevention programs don’t qualify for Medi-Cal reimbursement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Courtney Armstrong, director of government affairs with the First 5 Association of California, said roughly 95% of programs statewide that serve infants and children up to age 5 are not reimbursable through Medi-Cal.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who is still left out in mental health plan\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite the concessions, disability rights groups, peer support advocates, and many of the advocates that opposed last year’s CARE Court legislation are still against this version of Newsom’s overhaul. They want more assurances that the money won’t be used to place homeless people in locked treatment facilities against their will.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The average Californian absolutely wants more services and more housing for those who need it most, but they don’t want to be duped into funding the legal system and criminalization of communities of color and more involuntary institutionalization,” said Carolina Valle, senior policy director with the California Pan Ethnic Health Network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Historically institutionalization and jail-based services have disproportionately impacted \u003ca href=\"https://cpehn.org/assets/uploads/2021/09/A-Right-To-Heal-Report_final.pdf\">communities of color (PDF)\u003c/a>, Valle said. Critics also point out that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-growth-report/\">California’s homelessness crisis\u003c/a> is primarily driven by lack of affordable housing and incomes that have not kept pace with the cost of living, not mental illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This budget fight around the (Mental Health Services Act) is not a moment in time. It’s a continuation of failed mental health policy and failed housing policy in California,” Valle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "Gov. Newsom wants counties to spend some revenue from California’s so-called 'millionaire’s tax' on the state’s homeless crisis. That alarms advocates for programs that are getting that money today.",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>In a major about-face, Gov. Gavin Newsom gave ground this week on his signature mental health plan, aiming to appease critics who have argued his overhaul would starve youth services and other county-run programs of millions of dollars of tax revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The proposal is the second time in as many years that Newsom has advocated for significant changes to the state’s behavioral health system, following the passage of last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/07/care-court-california/\">controversial CARE Court law\u003c/a>. This year’s proposal aims to update the Mental Health Services Act, a 20-year-old ballot initiative that has raised billions of dollars per year for mental health programs through a tax on high incomes. The tax funds nearly one-third of the state’s mental health infrastructure and raised $4.8 billion last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At its crux, Newsom’s proposal would require counties to spend two-thirds of revenue from the tax on housing and 24/7 services for the state’s severely mentally ill homeless population. That equates to roughly $3.1 billion based on last year’s Mental Health Services Act revenue.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of the concessions introduced this week would loosen the definition of the “housing interventions” counties would be required to fund, reinstate some local spending flexibility, remove a requirement to add services for people suffering from addiction, and carve out money for children and youth programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s reform needs more than legislative buy-in. It also requires voter support to change the original ballot initiative. His pitch to voters: Redirect some of the money in an effort to help address California’s out-of-control homelessness crisis. The \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2023/04/california-homeless-spending-audit/\">state has spent more than $20 billion\u003c/a> on homelessness in the past five years with little impact.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, key mental health advocates remain skeptical. Many of the organizations that voiced concerns with the initial proposal say the recent amendments are “weak” and continue to stretch vital resources too thin.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re still slicing up the too-small pie,” said Clare Cortright, policy director for Cal Voices, a coalition of mental health peer support organizations. “What happens to the people with services now? What happens to the people with housing now?”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The plan, which mental health groups have criticized for being rushed, will get its first full legislative hearing next week. Lawmakers then would have four weeks before the end of the session to decide whether to place the measure on the March 2024 ballot.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom argues that his administration has spent “years preparing for this” overhaul in tandem with other major changes to the state’s health care delivery system.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’ve organized this very deliberatively,” Newsom told reporters last week. “This is very methodical, very focused. It’s not ready, fire, aim. It’s ready, aim, fire. It’s long overdue, and the consequences of neglect, delay denial — it’s too great.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>What Newsom’s mental health amendments allow\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>While Tuesday night’s amendments preserve the most significant change Newsom put forward — that a majority of the money be used on housing interventions and intensive services for unhoused people — it offers counties more local control.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amended proposal:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>Allows counties to transfer some money between spending categories like housing and prevention.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Offers small counties with more volatile year-to-year budgets exemptions from meeting some mandates.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Increases the amount of money allocated to the “flexible” spending bucket by 5%.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Expands the definition of housing interventions to include a wide range of social services like housing navigation rather than only “hard” costs like rent.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Requires 51% of money spent on prevention programs go toward children and youth.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Reinstates some of the power previously stripped from the Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Committee.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“We’ve seen some changes and certainly changes that seem helpful in moving to ameliorate some of the concerns that we’ve had. However, there’s also a bunch of new stuff in here that we’re trying to figure out,” said Jacqueline Wong-Hernandez, chief policy officer for the California State Association of Counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>County leaders and behavioral health directors are most concerned with proposed minimum spending mandates that are funded through volatile income tax revenue. The Mental Health Services Act levies a 1% tax on earnings over $1 million, an income bracket that depends on capital gains. They have also questioned how many existing services would be cut to meet the new housing mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amendments come on the heels of several \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4782\">Legislative Analyst’s Office briefs\u003c/a> that estimated $718 million would be stripped from existing county mental health programs, including children and youth early intervention services, to fund the proposed housing mandate. The briefs said the Newsom administration gave “incomplete justification” for the changes without an impact analysis.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Momentum builds from youth advocates\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite Newsom investing significant political capital into pushing this reform, it became increasingly difficult to ignore the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/06/mental-health-funding-2/\">opposition of children’s mental health advocates,\u003c/a> who said the governor was unnecessarily pitting the needs of the state’s homeless population against children’s mental services. Prevention and early intervention services would take the biggest cuts, they said, ultimately \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/series/california-mental-health/\">worsening a parallel mental health crisis\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Last week a coalition of nearly 300 groups representing local mental health agencies, school districts, and family resource centers among others, sent a letter to Newsom and Senate Health Committee Chair Susan Talamantes-Eggman, urging them to continue funding programs targeting ages 0 to 25. Eggman, a Democrat from Stockton, is carrying the bill that would place Newsom’s proposal on the ballot and was instrumental in passing Newsom’s CARE Court legislation last year. Eggman has not responded to multiple requests for comment.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“For years, children’s advocates have worked to ensure (this) funding prioritizes children and youth given the historic lack of focus on this population,” the letter states. “We are deeply concerned by the current proposal … to severely limit and reroute hard fought investments away from child-serving programs.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The amendments address the primary concerns raised by the coalition and preserve a majority of the roughly $448 million spent on children and youth mental health programs annually, said Adrienne Shilton, a lobbyist for the California Alliance of Child and Family Services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re moving in a positive direction here,” Shilton said. “The administration has come a long way in partnership with us.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom administration officials contend that the proposal is part of a larger effort to remake the state’s health care system. They point to last year’s \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/03/california-children-mental-health-crisis/?series=california-mental-health\">$4.3 billion budget allocation for children and youth mental health services\u003c/a> and Medi-Cal as alternate funding sources for current programs. But advocates say a majority of that investment comes from one-time allocations and integral programs like family support groups, parenting classes and suicide prevention programs don’t qualify for Medi-Cal reimbursement.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Courtney Armstrong, director of government affairs with the First 5 Association of California, said roughly 95% of programs statewide that serve infants and children up to age 5 are not reimbursable through Medi-Cal.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Who is still left out in mental health plan\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Despite the concessions, disability rights groups, peer support advocates, and many of the advocates that opposed last year’s CARE Court legislation are still against this version of Newsom’s overhaul. They want more assurances that the money won’t be used to place homeless people in locked treatment facilities against their will.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The average Californian absolutely wants more services and more housing for those who need it most, but they don’t want to be duped into funding the legal system and criminalization of communities of color and more involuntary institutionalization,” said Carolina Valle, senior policy director with the California Pan Ethnic Health Network.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Historically institutionalization and jail-based services have disproportionately impacted \u003ca href=\"https://cpehn.org/assets/uploads/2021/09/A-Right-To-Heal-Report_final.pdf\">communities of color (PDF)\u003c/a>, Valle said. Critics also point out that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-growth-report/\">California’s homelessness crisis\u003c/a> is primarily driven by lack of affordable housing and incomes that have not kept pace with the cost of living, not mental illness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This budget fight around the (Mental Health Services Act) is not a moment in time. It’s a continuation of failed mental health policy and failed housing policy in California,” Valle said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11954314/3-big-takeaways-from-californias-311-billion-budget-deal\">major proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> to overhaul the state’s behavioral and mental health system is likely to take nearly $720 million away from services provided by county governments annually, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4782\">new analysis\u003c/a> from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although that money would be reallocated within the system, in part to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/06/mental-health-funding-2/\">house homeless individuals with severe mental illness\u003c/a> and addiction disorders, the report authors note that Newsom and key legislators supporting the proposal have neither provided a complete justification for the changes nor have they published an analysis on how the changes may “negatively impact current services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Consequently, as the Legislature considers the proposal, we recommend asking the administration certain questions to assess whether the proposal is warranted,” the report states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom wants the Legislature to put his proposal before voters next year in tandem with a $4.68 billion bond measure to add psychiatric treatment beds. It would change how the state allocates money under the Mental Health Services Act, which levies a 1% tax on income above $1 million to fund behavioral health services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homelessness has become one of the most \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2023/04/california-homeless-spending-audit/\">high-profile challenges plaguing California\u003c/a>, increasing 32% in the past four years. Newsom, who promised to reduce homelessness, announced his intent during his \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/03/gavin-newsom-legacy-tour/\">State of the State tour\u003c/a> to divert nearly one-third of the state’s Mental Health Services Act money to help address homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since that time, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/04/mental-health-funding/\">local behavioral health providers and county officials\u003c/a> have criticized the proposal because of its potential to cut services and pit mental health programs against homeless services. The state has spent more than $20 billion on \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2023/04/california-homeless-spending-audit/\">housing and homelessness since 2018\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters, meanwhile, say reprioritizing how the money is spent is long overdue in light of the growing needs of the state’s homeless population as well as the addition of new funding sources for mental health programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Newsom’s Deputy Communications Director Brandon Richards said “upsetting the status quo” was necessary in light of California’s changing health care needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mental health needs among California homeless\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A recent study from UC San Francisco found that two-thirds of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-growth-report/\">homeless individuals experience mental health conditions\u003c/a>, although income loss is the driving force behind the state’s homelessness crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s more upsetting is watching people continue to suffer on the streets with ineffective interventions and inability to access much-needed treatment,” Richards said. “A California behavioral health system of care that is more focused, more transparent, and more accountable for results is what all Californians deserve and what this historic reform aims to achieve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly one-third of the county mental health infrastructure in the state is supported by the Mental Health Services Act, which was approved by voters in 2004 as a ballot initiative. Substantial changes to the act, like the ones Newsom proposed, require voter approval. Last year the tax generated about $3.8 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Brandon Richards, deputy communications director, Gov. Gavin Newsom\"]‘What’s more upsetting, is watching people continue to suffer on the streets with ineffective interventions and inability to access much-needed treatment.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics of Newsom’s proposal say the new analysis bolsters their argument that the changes will result in significant cuts to current programs, particularly those that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/06/mental-health-funding-2/\">support children\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office has so far “danced around” how much money would be cut, said Adrienne Shilton, a lobbyist for the California Alliance of Children and Family Services, which represents behavioral health providers in every county. The report is the first to quantify how the proposal would impact programs statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re seeing in real dollars what the impact would be,” Shilton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis estimates spending on current programs would be reduced from $1.34 billion to $621 million under the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Housing money in Gavin Newsom’s plan\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The report identified several key changes and unanswered questions for the Legislature to consider in \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Series/3\">Newsom’s plan\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Reduced flexibility: \u003c/strong>Counties would have less flexibility to determine how money is spent. Based on current expenditures, counties would be required to increase spending on housing by $493 million and on “full-service partnerships” by $121 million. “Full-service partnerships” include intensive wraparound services like case management, housing and employment support as well as clinical care.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Program cuts likely: \u003c/strong>To meet spending targets and caps, counties would likely need to reduce spending on current programs including “outpatient services, crisis response, prevention services, and outreach.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Less independent oversight: \u003c/strong>The proposed restructuring moves much of the program implementation and oversight authority to the Department of Health Care Services. The change “significantly limits” the independent oversight of the current Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.[aside label='More on Mental Health Care' tag='mental-health']Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who helped author the original law and has been a key supporter of the changes, said the law was always meant to prioritize “the plight of people living with serious mental illness on our streets.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“It’s appropriate, in fact, it’s necessary to set priority status,” Steinberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steinberg and Newsom’s office also contend that the state has invested heavily in the mental health safety net in other ways, including changes to the Medi-Cal system and a $4.4 billion one-time infusion into the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/03/california-children-mental-health-crisis/\">Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s no longer a funding source that stands alone,” Steinberg said. “[Now], the opportunity is to weave all these pieces together so that everyone has access to care, and nobody is left out or left behind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, advocates say it is premature to assume those investments have had a positive impact and that many have not yet been implemented. In an opposition letter, Lishaun Francis, senior director for behavioral health at Children Now said the state “has yet to demonstrate that it has delivered” on its promises and that the proposal deprioritizes children and youth.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg\"]‘The opportunity is to weave all these pieces together so that everyone has access to care — and nobody is left out or left behind.’[/pullquote]Advocates also say those funding sources, particularly Medi-Cal, won’t reimburse for the non-clinical programs like classroom interventions and family resource centers that have historically been supported by the Mental Health Services Act. Medi-Cal is the state’s health insurance program for extremely low-income Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Families need flexibility,” said Christine Stoner-Mertz, chief executive officer of the California Alliance of Child and Family Services. “We need community-designed practices, and we haven’t been successful in doing that with just Medi-Cal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11954314/3-big-takeaways-from-californias-311-billion-budget-deal\">major proposal from Gov. Gavin Newsom\u003c/a> to overhaul the state’s behavioral and mental health system is likely to take nearly $720 million away from services provided by county governments annually, according to a \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Report/4782\">new analysis\u003c/a> from the Legislative Analyst’s Office.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Although that money would be reallocated within the system, in part to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/06/mental-health-funding-2/\">house homeless individuals with severe mental illness\u003c/a> and addiction disorders, the report authors note that Newsom and key legislators supporting the proposal have neither provided a complete justification for the changes nor have they published an analysis on how the changes may “negatively impact current services.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Consequently, as the Legislature considers the proposal, we recommend asking the administration certain questions to assess whether the proposal is warranted,” the report states.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom wants the Legislature to put his proposal before voters next year in tandem with a $4.68 billion bond measure to add psychiatric treatment beds. It would change how the state allocates money under the Mental Health Services Act, which levies a 1% tax on income above $1 million to fund behavioral health services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Homelessness has become one of the most \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2023/04/california-homeless-spending-audit/\">high-profile challenges plaguing California\u003c/a>, increasing 32% in the past four years. Newsom, who promised to reduce homelessness, announced his intent during his \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2023/03/gavin-newsom-legacy-tour/\">State of the State tour\u003c/a> to divert nearly one-third of the state’s Mental Health Services Act money to help address homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Since that time, \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2023/04/mental-health-funding/\">local behavioral health providers and county officials\u003c/a> have criticized the proposal because of its potential to cut services and pit mental health programs against homeless services. The state has spent more than $20 billion on \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2023/04/california-homeless-spending-audit/\">housing and homelessness since 2018\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Supporters, meanwhile, say reprioritizing how the money is spent is long overdue in light of the growing needs of the state’s homeless population as well as the addition of new funding sources for mental health programs.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In a statement, Newsom’s Deputy Communications Director Brandon Richards said “upsetting the status quo” was necessary in light of California’s changing health care needs.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Mental health needs among California homeless\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>A recent study from UC San Francisco found that two-thirds of \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-growth-report/\">homeless individuals experience mental health conditions\u003c/a>, although income loss is the driving force behind the state’s homelessness crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What’s more upsetting is watching people continue to suffer on the streets with ineffective interventions and inability to access much-needed treatment,” Richards said. “A California behavioral health system of care that is more focused, more transparent, and more accountable for results is what all Californians deserve and what this historic reform aims to achieve.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Roughly one-third of the county mental health infrastructure in the state is supported by the Mental Health Services Act, which was approved by voters in 2004 as a ballot initiative. Substantial changes to the act, like the ones Newsom proposed, require voter approval. Last year the tax generated about $3.8 billion.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Critics of Newsom’s proposal say the new analysis bolsters their argument that the changes will result in significant cuts to current programs, particularly those that \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/mental-health/2023/06/mental-health-funding-2/\">support children\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Newsom’s office has so far “danced around” how much money would be cut, said Adrienne Shilton, a lobbyist for the California Alliance of Children and Family Services, which represents behavioral health providers in every county. The report is the first to quantify how the proposal would impact programs statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We’re seeing in real dollars what the impact would be,” Shilton said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The analysis estimates spending on current programs would be reduced from $1.34 billion to $621 million under the plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Housing money in Gavin Newsom’s plan\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>The report identified several key changes and unanswered questions for the Legislature to consider in \u003ca href=\"https://lao.ca.gov/Publications/Series/3\">Newsom’s plan\u003c/a>:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Reduced flexibility: \u003c/strong>Counties would have less flexibility to determine how money is spent. Based on current expenditures, counties would be required to increase spending on housing by $493 million and on “full-service partnerships” by $121 million. “Full-service partnerships” include intensive wraparound services like case management, housing and employment support as well as clinical care.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Program cuts likely: \u003c/strong>To meet spending targets and caps, counties would likely need to reduce spending on current programs including “outpatient services, crisis response, prevention services, and outreach.”\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>\u003cstrong>Less independent oversight: \u003c/strong>The proposed restructuring moves much of the program implementation and oversight authority to the Department of Health Care Services. The change “significantly limits” the independent oversight of the current Mental Health Services Oversight and Accountability Commission.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, who helped author the original law and has been a key supporter of the changes, said the law was always meant to prioritize “the plight of people living with serious mental illness on our streets.”\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“It’s appropriate, in fact, it’s necessary to set priority status,” Steinberg said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Steinberg and Newsom’s office also contend that the state has invested heavily in the mental health safety net in other ways, including changes to the Medi-Cal system and a $4.4 billion one-time infusion into the \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/03/california-children-mental-health-crisis/\">Children and Youth Behavioral Health Initiative\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It’s no longer a funding source that stands alone,” Steinberg said. “[Now], the opportunity is to weave all these pieces together so that everyone has access to care, and nobody is left out or left behind.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Still, advocates say it is premature to assume those investments have had a positive impact and that many have not yet been implemented. In an opposition letter, Lishaun Francis, senior director for behavioral health at Children Now said the state “has yet to demonstrate that it has delivered” on its promises and that the proposal deprioritizes children and youth.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Advocates also say those funding sources, particularly Medi-Cal, won’t reimburse for the non-clinical programs like classroom interventions and family resource centers that have historically been supported by the Mental Health Services Act. Medi-Cal is the state’s health insurance program for extremely low-income Californians.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Families need flexibility,” said Christine Stoner-Mertz, chief executive officer of the California Alliance of Child and Family Services. “We need community-designed practices, and we haven’t been successful in doing that with just Medi-Cal.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q7BNr6kOVbzQpP46ZuANDKQEgjwIpge7/view?usp=drive_link\">Read a transcript of this episode. \u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you watch national TV news — or eavesdrop at your local coffee shop — you may have heard something like this: San Francisco’s offices are lying vacant, homelessness is rampant, and the city is floundering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Judith Gottlieb, a retired nurse in Oakland, has been hearing some of those stories. And the idea of people sleeping on the street breaks her heart. One day, she got an idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I heard about all these empty office buildings in San Francisco, and I was thinking, couldn’t we just move [people] in there really quickly?” Gottlieb asked Bay Curious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Office vacancy is hovering around 30% in downtown San Francisco, and recently there’s been a lot of talk about converting all these empty offices to living space as a way to create much-needed housing and revive downtown at the same time. [baycuriouspodcastinfo]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The unhoused need dignity. They need a roof over their head,” said Gottlieb. “Anything we can do is better than just waiting around.”\u003cbr>\nBay Curious looked into the economics of converting office space to housing in the city, and explored whether this is a good option for getting people off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How difficult is conversion?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Offices have been converted to housing before in San Francisco, but only a handful of times, according to the San Francisco Planning Commission. But as far as the agency knows, it hasn’t been done for people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A prime example of a market-rate conversion is 100 Van Ness, a 28-story, glass-covered tower just steps from Market Street and City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This tower first belonged to the California State Automobile Association and was built in the 1970s. Back then, it was a beige tower of concrete with small rectangular windows. Now its exterior is almost all glass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955562\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-scaled.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955562 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"A white man wearing a suit smiles at the camera in the foreground. He's standing on the rooftop of a skyscraper. Behind him is a view of the San Francisco city skyline.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Strachan Forgan stands on the rooftop of 100 Van Ness. \u003ccite>(Pauline Bartolone/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We essentially took off the entire façade of the building and replaced it with this floor-to-ceiling glass,” said Strachan Forgan, a principal at SCB, the architectural firm that helped create the residential units in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a recent tour of 100 Van Ness, Forgan explained the complete transformation of the interior of the building. The once sprawling open floors of office space have been carved up into hundreds of luxury apartments. Only four of the original eight elevators remain, because residential settings have less need for elevators, according to Forgan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The converted apartments — ranging from $3,159 for a tiny studio to more than $6,000 for a roomy two-bedroom — are not without design quirks. Some are attractive, others less so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things residents may enjoy are the elevated ceilings — slightly higher than in your standard apartment. Developers also removed the heating and cooling machinery, which is typically kept on office building roofs, to make open leisure space instead, complete with chairs and 360-degree views of the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It has pretty spectacular views in every direction,” said Forgan, with a backdrop of the Marin Headlands, and the many hills of San Francisco, behind him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the downside, some apartments at Van Ness have fewer surface area for windows, so bedrooms use “borrowed light” from living spaces. Because the apartments are carved out of a vast open office floor, many of the apartments are long and deep, stretching from the window to the center elevators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, many apartments at 100 Van Ness have long, tunnel-like hallways with windows at the end. In one of the building’s one-bedroom units, a windowless bedroom in the middle of the layout has a semi-transparent wall to let in light from the living room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954821\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954821 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A large empty room with a glass sliding door and glass panels in one wall.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sliding door and light panels allow light through to an interior bedroom in a converted apartment at 100 Van Ness in San Francisco on June 30, 2023. Built in 1974, the building was converted from office space to residential apartment units in 2012. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When 100 Van Ness first opened to residents, units with windowless bedrooms were initially offered with significant discounts, but developers soon found that wasn’t necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Actually, the residents really like it because it’s very quiet,” said Forgan. “You’re away from the hustle and bustle. It can be a little darker, so if you’re sleeping there, it’s fine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>It comes down to money\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Forgan’s firm wants to stay in this business of designing conversions of offices to housing. They see the value to downtown San Francisco, and the environment. Reusing an existing building has a smaller carbon footprint than knocking it down and starting from scratch.\u003cbr>\nSo why is this project one of only a handful of office-to-residential conversions in San Francisco?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps not surprisingly, it has largely to do with the high cost of housing development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a very basic level, there’s the cost of new plumbing and electrical. You need pipes for new kitchens and bathrooms. Then, a lot of these buildings need a seismic upgrade. Forgan says the kind of housing that would recoup costs of a conversion would be at the higher end of the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’ve got to buy the building and do everything to convert it. And by the time you add up those costs, the only thing that pencils [out] is more of a luxury product, especially with a building like this that has great views and a good location,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954820\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954820 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"People pass a sign on a city sidewalk advertising luxury apartments.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People pass by the entrance to the 100 Van Ness building in San Francisco on June 30, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Housing developers like the Emerald Fund, which backed 100 Van Ness, say they’re interested in doing more office-to-housing conversions. The raw construction costs of converting offices could actually be done more cheaply than building a brand-new apartment tower, says Marc Babsin, president of the fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Babsin says they’ve looked at four office buildings to convert recently, but so far, no new project has made sense cost-wise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We continue to look. We think this is a great idea from a public policy perspective. We do need to save our downtowns and this is a great way to do that, to bring people onto the street,” said Babsin. “It’s a great way to produce housing that is currently not being produced.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public policy experts at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) agree that the hefty costs of development can make such a project a nonstarter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sujata Srivastava, San Francisco director at SPUR, explained a few of the financial burdens that give housing developers pause:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>City fees that support public projects like child care programs and transportation, which can add up to millions of dollars.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Transfer and property taxes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Reduced revenue potential, because San Francisco requires a certain number of units be affordable to lower-income tenants.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Construction costs, which are very expensive right now.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t really make any financial sense to do conversions under the current costs that we have in San Francisco,” said Srivastava, adding that housing development is even less likely because rents are also down since before the pandemic. “The math just doesn’t really work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent SPUR report suggests city lawmakers need to make major changes if they want to jump-start these conversions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco politicians have already made some changes, and are working on more. The Mayor’s Office and supervisors have relaxed rules about open space, sunlight and apartment sizes for some conversions. Elected city officials have proposed reducing affordable housing requirements and impact fees on all new housing developments, but not as low as developers want.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s all part of the city’s effort to jump-start more activity downtown and build more housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A solution for homelessness?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since the pandemic emptied out office space in the Financial District, downtown streets look vacant; pedestrians experience windy sidewalks, empty restaurants and sparse foot traffic. Graham Luth was sitting on the sidewalk on 2nd Street near Montgomery Street one recent Friday morning, trying to get money to go to Colorado.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got evicted, sort of,” said Luth about being temporarily without a home. “I got a job offer but I’m short on bus money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about this idea of sheltering people in empty office space downtown, Luth looked up at the tall buildings around him, and said, if no one’s using them, why not?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s a fantastic idea because there is a lot of space that is just … sitting there,” said Luth. “So I guess just being able to figure out who owns the spaces and if … they’re not gaining or losing, that the space can be used for a matter that would help support the whole community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the city of San Francisco may have already found a different way to shelter people without housing: buying underused hotels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that happened during the pandemic that … really kind of changed the landscape around solving homelessness was this idea of using hotels,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, San Francisco and their partner organizations bought eight hotels and apartment buildings to provide permanent supportive housing to people who were formerly on the streets. It has created almost 1,000 new housing units for people without shelter. The city is in the process of acquiring two more buildings. [emailsignup newslettername=\"baycurious\" align=\"right\"]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result of San Francisco’s efforts, the unsheltered unhoused population has gone down 15% since 2020. That’s as homelessness in general has gone up around the state, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks are getting housed,” said Friedenbach. “That has been really incredible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco used state COVID-19 money through Project Homekey and a local tax on large corporations, known to San Francisco voters as Proposition C, to purchase and operate the buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had unprecedented success during COVID,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, about their recent efforts to house unsheltered people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The success is due to the enormous resources that were made available to them through Project Homekey and local tax dollars, said McSpadden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really showed what can happen when you can marshal resources,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Friedenbach says making housing out of hotel rooms is easier and cheaper because it already has living space infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of the tourist hotels have larger rooms. You can turn them into studio apartments and have small kitchens,” Friedenbach said. “There’s all these design things you can do that are really cool and you’ve already got the pipes, the electricity, the water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With nationally owned hotels like the Hilton and Parc 55 abandoning their Union Square buildings, and the city’s recent track record of housing people in hotels, repurposing these newly abandoned buildings doesn’t seem like a wild idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Judith Gottlieb’s question, it seems that vacant hotels may be a better option for housing unsheltered people. But those vacant offices in the city’s core could one day be high-end housing, especially if lawmakers take more steps to make conversions cheaper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[baycuriousquestion]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>\u003ca href=\"https://drive.google.com/file/d/1q7BNr6kOVbzQpP46ZuANDKQEgjwIpge7/view?usp=drive_link\">Read a transcript of this episode. \u003c/a>\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you watch national TV news — or eavesdrop at your local coffee shop — you may have heard something like this: San Francisco’s offices are lying vacant, homelessness is rampant, and the city is floundering.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Bay Curious listener Judith Gottlieb, a retired nurse in Oakland, has been hearing some of those stories. And the idea of people sleeping on the street breaks her heart. One day, she got an idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I heard about all these empty office buildings in San Francisco, and I was thinking, couldn’t we just move [people] in there really quickly?” Gottlieb asked Bay Curious.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Office vacancy is hovering around 30% in downtown San Francisco, and recently there’s been a lot of talk about converting all these empty offices to living space as a way to create much-needed housing and revive downtown at the same time. \u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003caside class=\"alignleft utils-parseShortcode-shortcodes-__bayCuriousPodcastShortcode__bayCurious\">\u003cimg src=https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/02/bayCuriousLogo.png alt=\"Bay Curious Podcast\" loading=\"lazy\" />\n \u003ca href=\"/news/series/baycurious\">Bay Curious\u003c/a> is a podcast that answers your questions about the Bay Area.\n Subscribe on \u003ca href=\"https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/bay-curious/id1172473406\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Apple Podcasts\u003c/a>,\n \u003ca href=\"http://www.npr.org/podcasts/500557090/bay-curious\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">NPR One\u003c/a> or your favorite podcast platform.\u003c/aside>\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The unhoused need dignity. They need a roof over their head,” said Gottlieb. “Anything we can do is better than just waiting around.”\u003cbr>\nBay Curious looked into the economics of converting office space to housing in the city, and explored whether this is a good option for getting people off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>How difficult is conversion?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Offices have been converted to housing before in San Francisco, but only a handful of times, according to the San Francisco Planning Commission. But as far as the agency knows, it hasn’t been done for people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A prime example of a market-rate conversion is 100 Van Ness, a 28-story, glass-covered tower just steps from Market Street and City Hall.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This tower first belonged to the California State Automobile Association and was built in the 1970s. Back then, it was a beige tower of concrete with small rectangular windows. Now its exterior is almost all glass.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11955562\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-scaled.jpeg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11955562 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-scaled.jpeg\" alt=\"A white man wearing a suit smiles at the camera in the foreground. He's standing on the rooftop of a skyscraper. Behind him is a view of the San Francisco city skyline.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"1920\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-scaled.jpeg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-800x600.jpeg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-1020x765.jpeg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-160x120.jpeg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-1536x1152.jpeg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-2048x1536.jpeg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/IMG_6909-1920x1440.jpeg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Strachan Forgan stands on the rooftop of 100 Van Ness. \u003ccite>(Pauline Bartolone/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“We essentially took off the entire façade of the building and replaced it with this floor-to-ceiling glass,” said Strachan Forgan, a principal at SCB, the architectural firm that helped create the residential units in 2015.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During a recent tour of 100 Van Ness, Forgan explained the complete transformation of the interior of the building. The once sprawling open floors of office space have been carved up into hundreds of luxury apartments. Only four of the original eight elevators remain, because residential settings have less need for elevators, according to Forgan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The converted apartments — ranging from $3,159 for a tiny studio to more than $6,000 for a roomy two-bedroom — are not without design quirks. Some are attractive, others less so.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Things residents may enjoy are the elevated ceilings — slightly higher than in your standard apartment. Developers also removed the heating and cooling machinery, which is typically kept on office building roofs, to make open leisure space instead, complete with chairs and 360-degree views of the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It has pretty spectacular views in every direction,” said Forgan, with a backdrop of the Marin Headlands, and the many hills of San Francisco, behind him.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On the downside, some apartments at Van Ness have fewer surface area for windows, so bedrooms use “borrowed light” from living spaces. Because the apartments are carved out of a vast open office floor, many of the apartments are long and deep, stretching from the window to the center elevators.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result, many apartments at 100 Van Ness have long, tunnel-like hallways with windows at the end. In one of the building’s one-bedroom units, a windowless bedroom in the middle of the layout has a semi-transparent wall to let in light from the living room.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954821\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954821 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"A large empty room with a glass sliding door and glass panels in one wall.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-14-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">A sliding door and light panels allow light through to an interior bedroom in a converted apartment at 100 Van Ness in San Francisco on June 30, 2023. Built in 1974, the building was converted from office space to residential apartment units in 2012. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>When 100 Van Ness first opened to residents, units with windowless bedrooms were initially offered with significant discounts, but developers soon found that wasn’t necessary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Actually, the residents really like it because it’s very quiet,” said Forgan. “You’re away from the hustle and bustle. It can be a little darker, so if you’re sleeping there, it’s fine.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>It comes down to money\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Forgan’s firm wants to stay in this business of designing conversions of offices to housing. They see the value to downtown San Francisco, and the environment. Reusing an existing building has a smaller carbon footprint than knocking it down and starting from scratch.\u003cbr>\nSo why is this project one of only a handful of office-to-residential conversions in San Francisco?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps not surprisingly, it has largely to do with the high cost of housing development.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On a very basic level, there’s the cost of new plumbing and electrical. You need pipes for new kitchens and bathrooms. Then, a lot of these buildings need a seismic upgrade. Forgan says the kind of housing that would recoup costs of a conversion would be at the higher end of the market.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“You’ve got to buy the building and do everything to convert it. And by the time you add up those costs, the only thing that pencils [out] is more of a luxury product, especially with a building like this that has great views and a good location,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954820\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2000px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954820 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"People pass a sign on a city sidewalk advertising luxury apartments.\" width=\"2000\" height=\"1333\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED.jpg 2000w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230630-100-VAN-NESS-MHN-10-KQED-1920x1280.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 2000px) 100vw, 2000px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">People pass by the entrance to the 100 Van Ness building in San Francisco on June 30, 2023. \u003ccite>(Martin do Nascimento/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Housing developers like the Emerald Fund, which backed 100 Van Ness, say they’re interested in doing more office-to-housing conversions. The raw construction costs of converting offices could actually be done more cheaply than building a brand-new apartment tower, says Marc Babsin, president of the fund.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Babsin says they’ve looked at four office buildings to convert recently, but so far, no new project has made sense cost-wise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We continue to look. We think this is a great idea from a public policy perspective. We do need to save our downtowns and this is a great way to do that, to bring people onto the street,” said Babsin. “It’s a great way to produce housing that is currently not being produced.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Public policy experts at the San Francisco Bay Area Planning and Urban Research Association (SPUR) agree that the hefty costs of development can make such a project a nonstarter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sujata Srivastava, San Francisco director at SPUR, explained a few of the financial burdens that give housing developers pause:\u003c/p>\n\u003cul>\n\u003cli>City fees that support public projects like child care programs and transportation, which can add up to millions of dollars.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Transfer and property taxes.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Reduced revenue potential, because San Francisco requires a certain number of units be affordable to lower-income tenants.\u003c/li>\n\u003cli>Construction costs, which are very expensive right now.\u003c/li>\n\u003c/ul>\n\u003cp>“It doesn’t really make any financial sense to do conversions under the current costs that we have in San Francisco,” said Srivastava, adding that housing development is even less likely because rents are also down since before the pandemic. “The math just doesn’t really work.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>A recent SPUR report suggests city lawmakers need to make major changes if they want to jump-start these conversions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco politicians have already made some changes, and are working on more. The Mayor’s Office and supervisors have relaxed rules about open space, sunlight and apartment sizes for some conversions. Elected city officials have proposed reducing affordable housing requirements and impact fees on all new housing developments, but not as low as developers want.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s all part of the city’s effort to jump-start more activity downtown and build more housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>A solution for homelessness?\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Since the pandemic emptied out office space in the Financial District, downtown streets look vacant; pedestrians experience windy sidewalks, empty restaurants and sparse foot traffic. Graham Luth was sitting on the sidewalk on 2nd Street near Montgomery Street one recent Friday morning, trying to get money to go to Colorado.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I got evicted, sort of,” said Luth about being temporarily without a home. “I got a job offer but I’m short on bus money.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When asked about this idea of sheltering people in empty office space downtown, Luth looked up at the tall buildings around him, and said, if no one’s using them, why not?\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think it’s a fantastic idea because there is a lot of space that is just … sitting there,” said Luth. “So I guess just being able to figure out who owns the spaces and if … they’re not gaining or losing, that the space can be used for a matter that would help support the whole community.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, the city of San Francisco may have already found a different way to shelter people without housing: buying underused hotels.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“One of the things that happened during the pandemic that … really kind of changed the landscape around solving homelessness was this idea of using hotels,” said Jennifer Friedenbach, executive director of the Coalition on Homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>During the pandemic, San Francisco and their partner organizations bought eight hotels and apartment buildings to provide permanent supportive housing to people who were formerly on the streets. It has created almost 1,000 new housing units for people without shelter. The city is in the process of acquiring two more buildings. \u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As a result of San Francisco’s efforts, the unsheltered unhoused population has gone down 15% since 2020. That’s as homelessness in general has gone up around the state, according to the Public Policy Institute of California.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Folks are getting housed,” said Friedenbach. “That has been really incredible.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco used state COVID-19 money through Project Homekey and a local tax on large corporations, known to San Francisco voters as Proposition C, to purchase and operate the buildings.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We had unprecedented success during COVID,” said Shireen McSpadden, executive director of San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing, about their recent efforts to house unsheltered people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The success is due to the enormous resources that were made available to them through Project Homekey and local tax dollars, said McSpadden.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really showed what can happen when you can marshal resources,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Friedenbach says making housing out of hotel rooms is easier and cheaper because it already has living space infrastructure.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“A lot of the tourist hotels have larger rooms. You can turn them into studio apartments and have small kitchens,” Friedenbach said. “There’s all these design things you can do that are really cool and you’ve already got the pipes, the electricity, the water.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With nationally owned hotels like the Hilton and Parc 55 abandoning their Union Square buildings, and the city’s recent track record of housing people in hotels, repurposing these newly abandoned buildings doesn’t seem like a wild idea.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for Judith Gottlieb’s question, it seems that vacant hotels may be a better option for housing unsheltered people. But those vacant offices in the city’s core could one day be high-end housing, especially if lawmakers take more steps to make conversions cheaper.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "This California City Made a Huge Impact on Homelessness. Then Money Ran Out",
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"content": "\u003cp>A new homeless outreach program pairing a social worker with a police officer in Grass Valley, a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills, seemed to be working.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state-funded effort sent the team to homeless encampments, where they helped build trust among vulnerable people and persuaded them to accept help, according to the nonprofit Hospitality House, which ran the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It blew past its goal of engaging 90 people in three years, instead meeting with more than 200. It even helped move some people directly into housing, including an 80-year-old veteran.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when the three-year grant paying for that outreach ended in June, there was no money to replace it. So the program came to a screeching halt, to the disappointment of all involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a profound loss to not be able to do this,” said Nancy Baglietto, executive director of Hospitality House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That loss embodies the worst fears of homeless service providers across California, as they struggle to piece together new funding sources after their state grants expire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Carolyn Coleman, executive director and CEO, League of California Cities\"]‘It really defies logic that the state budget once again fails to include funding to match the scale of the crisis we are experiencing.’[/pullquote]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many had hoped that Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders would change that dynamic in the state budget deal they announced last week by committing ongoing funds for homelessness that nonprofits, cities and counties could rely on year after year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It didn’t happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Newsom and lawmakers settled on another round of one-time funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really defies logic that the state budget once again fails to include funding to match the scale of the crisis we are experiencing,” said Carolyn Coleman, executive director and CEO of the League of California Cities, which \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/04/california-homeless-cities/\">pressed Newsom’s administration for a guaranteed $3 billion a year in homelessness funding\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Unprecedented’ homelessness funding under Newsom\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As California grapples with how to provide for its massive population of more than 170,000 unhoused residents, Newsom has stepped up homelessness funding to unprecedented levels. He’s funneled nearly $21 billion into housing and homelessness since the 2018–19 fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, for the third year in a row, the state budget allocates $1 billion to the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention fund, which local officials can use for housing, outreach at encampments, emergency shelters and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the vast majority of Newsom’s homelessness spending has been in one-time grants, which providers say makes it difficult to fund the kind of long-term programs that could make a noticeable dent in the crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954915\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954915 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg\" alt=\"There are tents, belongings scattered and stacked, RVs in the background, a random shopping cart, and more. Many blue tarps cover the tops of the encampment area.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An encampment in Los Angeles, on June 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Julie A Hotz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California would need to spend \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/12/20/what-will-it-cost-to-end-homelessness-in-california-8-billion-a-year-for-12-years/\">$8.1 billion a year for a dozen years\u003c/a> to eliminate homelessness in the state, according to \u003ca href=\"https://calneeds.csh.org/\">a report by the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the California Housing Partnership\u003c/a>, two nonprofit advocacy groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor’s office defended this approach to funding homelessness, pointing out that the state has provided an “unprecedented” $15.3 billion for the issue since he took office at the start of 2019.[aside postID=news_11949327 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS58533_080_KQED_WoodStreetOaklandCalTrans_09082022-1020x680.jpg']The governor has also \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/03/19/governor-newsom-proposes-modernization-of-californias-behavioral-health-system-and-more-mental-health-housing/#:~:text=Amend%20the%20Mental%20Health%20Services,people%20with%20substance%20use%20disorders.\">proposed a 2024 ballot measure to amend the Mental Health Services Act\u003c/a> that would provide $1 billion a year for housing for people with mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders. That amendment would require voter approval to take effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This budget provides not just funding to address homelessness — it builds in the accountability needed to ensure that tax dollars are being maximized to produce real results,” Daniel Lopez, Newsom’s deputy communications director, said in an emailed statement. “Ultimately, the challenge of homelessness and housing must be met not only with dollars, but it also requires strong accountability coupled with financial resources to make lasting progress for our state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be eligible for homelessness funding under this budget, cities and counties must submit homeless action plans — in coordination with other jurisdictions in their region — that detail the progress they’ve made.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Short-term homeless services\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There was some momentum this year to move away from one-time spending on homelessness. More than two dozen state legislators \u003ca href=\"https://www.calcities.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/ad-67-2023-24-budget-request-housing-and-homelessness.pdf?sfvrsn=4fbcd4a9_3/AD-67-2023-24-Budget-Request-Housing-and-Homel\">signed a letter in May supporting the League of California Cities’ demand (PDF)\u003c/a> for $3 billion a year. A coalition led by the California State Association of Counties also called for ongoing funds and drafted bill language it urged legislators to adopt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that proved to be a tough ask with Newsom’s office projecting a $30 billion-plus budget deficit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, city and county leaders, legislators and homelessness nonprofits have been clamoring for a source of ongoing funding to tackle the homelessness crisis. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/luz-rivas-1974/\">Assemblymember Luz Rivas, a Democrat from Arleta\u003c/a>, pushed a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB71\">bill in 2021\u003c/a> that would have established ongoing homelessness funding by \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/01/13/new-bill-would-fight-homelessness-by-raising-californias-corporate-tax-rates/\">raising taxes on large businesses\u003c/a>, but the bill died without making it out of the Assembly. Last year, California voters rejected a \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/01/31/could-betting-on-sports-games-help-solve-californias-homelessness-crisis/\">ballot measure to legalize sports betting\u003c/a>, which would have directed fees and taxes from those wages into a fund for homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baglietto, of Hospitality House, says that type of permanent funding could have helped save her organization’s Grass Valley outreach program.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Nancy Baglietto, executive director, Hospitality House\"]‘We don’t know each year where the funding is going to come from. It’s kind of a nail-biting scenario.’[/pullquote]Hospitality House and the Grass Valley Police Department received $575,000 in 2020 through a state violence intervention program. The city put the money toward homeless outreach as a way to prevent unhoused people from experiencing violence in encampments, and also to reduce confrontations between police and unhoused people. By the time the grant ran out this year, Grass Valley’s crime rate had improved and the city was no longer eligible for the money, Baglietto said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t the first time the nonprofit was forced to scramble because of unreliable state funding. Hospitality House’s 65-bed homeless shelter was once largely funded by state grants. Several years ago, the state changed how that money was allocated — focusing on permanent housing instead of shelter — and Hospitality House’s portion dried up. So the nonprofit cobbled together funding from a dozen different sources to fill the hole left by the state money, Baglietto said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Hospitality House keeps its shelter open through money from \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/02/california-medi-cal-reform/\">CalAIM, Newsom’s recent Medi-Cal expansion\u003c/a>. The nonprofit still has a “massive” gap, which it is temporarily filling with federal COVID funds designed to help businesses retain employees. That money runs out next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know each year where the funding is going to come from,” Baglietto said. “It’s kind of a nail-biting scenario.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Havoc’ for California nonprofits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Union Station Homeless Services, which coordinates programs throughout the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, faces the same issues, said CEO Anne Miskey. Every budget cycle, her team has to spend two or three months piecing together their financing as the funding they get from the state changes or ends. Sometimes, the parameters for a state grant shift and clients Union Station has been working with for years suddenly are no longer eligible.[aside label='More on California’s Unhoused Community' tag='homelessness']“This is just creating havoc in our sector,” Miskey said. “And this is why people are leaving. It’s not the clients. It’s not the work. It’s this piece.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new state budget has some new language around homelessness funding. It requires that anyone applying for a grant be part of a regional plan that lays out the specific roles and responsibilities of each participant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was something the \u003ca href=\"https://www.counties.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/at_home_-_accountability_details_-_final_5-19-23.pdf?1684533540\">California State Association of Counties pushed for (PDF)\u003c/a>, arguing that currently cities, counties and other groups too often fight over who should be building shelters, offering mental health help or providing other homeless services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget also promises that it is the Legislature’s “intent” to provide additional the same funding in the 2024-25 fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s not enough, said Graham Knaus, CEO of the California State Association of Counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Counties cannot budget based on legislative intent,” he said. “Nobody can. We certainly can’t make multi-year commitments based upon intent where there’s no clarity about what’s going to happen next year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"title": "This California City Made a Huge Impact on Homelessness. Then Money Ran Out | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A new homeless outreach program pairing a social worker with a police officer in Grass Valley, a small town in the Sierra Nevada foothills, seemed to be working.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The state-funded effort sent the team to homeless encampments, where they helped build trust among vulnerable people and persuaded them to accept help, according to the nonprofit Hospitality House, which ran the program.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It blew past its goal of engaging 90 people in three years, instead meeting with more than 200. It even helped move some people directly into housing, including an 80-year-old veteran.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But when the three-year grant paying for that outreach ended in June, there was no money to replace it. So the program came to a screeching halt, to the disappointment of all involved.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It is a profound loss to not be able to do this,” said Nancy Baglietto, executive director of Hospitality House.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That loss embodies the worst fears of homeless service providers across California, as they struggle to piece together new funding sources after their state grants expire.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘It really defies logic that the state budget once again fails to include funding to match the scale of the crisis we are experiencing.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many had hoped that Gov. Gavin Newsom and legislative leaders would change that dynamic in the state budget deal they announced last week by committing ongoing funds for homelessness that nonprofits, cities and counties could rely on year after year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It didn’t happen.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Instead, Newsom and lawmakers settled on another round of one-time funding.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“It really defies logic that the state budget once again fails to include funding to match the scale of the crisis we are experiencing,” said Carolyn Coleman, executive director and CEO of the League of California Cities, which \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/newsletters/whatmatters/2023/04/california-homeless-cities/\">pressed Newsom’s administration for a guaranteed $3 billion a year in homelessness funding\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Unprecedented’ homelessness funding under Newsom\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>As California grapples with how to provide for its massive population of more than 170,000 unhoused residents, Newsom has stepped up homelessness funding to unprecedented levels. He’s funneled nearly $21 billion into housing and homelessness since the 2018–19 fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This year, for the third year in a row, the state budget allocates $1 billion to the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention fund, which local officials can use for housing, outreach at encampments, emergency shelters and more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the vast majority of Newsom’s homelessness spending has been in one-time grants, which providers say makes it difficult to fund the kind of long-term programs that could make a noticeable dent in the crisis.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954915\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-11954915 size-full\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg\" alt=\"There are tents, belongings scattered and stacked, RVs in the background, a random shopping cart, and more. Many blue tarps cover the tops of the encampment area.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/07/CalMattersUnhousedLA02-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">An encampment in Los Angeles, on June 20, 2023. \u003ccite>(Julie A Hotz/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>California would need to spend \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/12/20/what-will-it-cost-to-end-homelessness-in-california-8-billion-a-year-for-12-years/\">$8.1 billion a year for a dozen years\u003c/a> to eliminate homelessness in the state, according to \u003ca href=\"https://calneeds.csh.org/\">a report by the Corporation for Supportive Housing and the California Housing Partnership\u003c/a>, two nonprofit advocacy groups.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The governor’s office defended this approach to funding homelessness, pointing out that the state has provided an “unprecedented” $15.3 billion for the issue since he took office at the start of 2019.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The governor has also \u003ca href=\"https://www.gov.ca.gov/2023/03/19/governor-newsom-proposes-modernization-of-californias-behavioral-health-system-and-more-mental-health-housing/#:~:text=Amend%20the%20Mental%20Health%20Services,people%20with%20substance%20use%20disorders.\">proposed a 2024 ballot measure to amend the Mental Health Services Act\u003c/a> that would provide $1 billion a year for housing for people with mental illnesses and substance abuse disorders. That amendment would require voter approval to take effect.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“This budget provides not just funding to address homelessness — it builds in the accountability needed to ensure that tax dollars are being maximized to produce real results,” Daniel Lopez, Newsom’s deputy communications director, said in an emailed statement. “Ultimately, the challenge of homelessness and housing must be met not only with dollars, but it also requires strong accountability coupled with financial resources to make lasting progress for our state.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>To be eligible for homelessness funding under this budget, cities and counties must submit homeless action plans — in coordination with other jurisdictions in their region — that detail the progress they’ve made.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Short-term homeless services\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>There was some momentum this year to move away from one-time spending on homelessness. More than two dozen state legislators \u003ca href=\"https://www.calcities.org/docs/default-source/advocacy/ad-67-2023-24-budget-request-housing-and-homelessness.pdf?sfvrsn=4fbcd4a9_3/AD-67-2023-24-Budget-Request-Housing-and-Homel\">signed a letter in May supporting the League of California Cities’ demand (PDF)\u003c/a> for $3 billion a year. A coalition led by the California State Association of Counties also called for ongoing funds and drafted bill language it urged legislators to adopt.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that proved to be a tough ask with Newsom’s office projecting a $30 billion-plus budget deficit.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For years, city and county leaders, legislators and homelessness nonprofits have been clamoring for a source of ongoing funding to tackle the homelessness crisis. \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/luz-rivas-1974/\">Assemblymember Luz Rivas, a Democrat from Arleta\u003c/a>, pushed a \u003ca href=\"https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billTextClient.xhtml?bill_id=202120220AB71\">bill in 2021\u003c/a> that would have established ongoing homelessness funding by \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/01/13/new-bill-would-fight-homelessness-by-raising-californias-corporate-tax-rates/\">raising taxes on large businesses\u003c/a>, but the bill died without making it out of the Assembly. Last year, California voters rejected a \u003ca href=\"https://www.mercurynews.com/2022/01/31/could-betting-on-sports-games-help-solve-californias-homelessness-crisis/\">ballot measure to legalize sports betting\u003c/a>, which would have directed fees and taxes from those wages into a fund for homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Baglietto, of Hospitality House, says that type of permanent funding could have helped save her organization’s Grass Valley outreach program.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Hospitality House and the Grass Valley Police Department received $575,000 in 2020 through a state violence intervention program. The city put the money toward homeless outreach as a way to prevent unhoused people from experiencing violence in encampments, and also to reduce confrontations between police and unhoused people. By the time the grant ran out this year, Grass Valley’s crime rate had improved and the city was no longer eligible for the money, Baglietto said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It wasn’t the first time the nonprofit was forced to scramble because of unreliable state funding. Hospitality House’s 65-bed homeless shelter was once largely funded by state grants. Several years ago, the state changed how that money was allocated — focusing on permanent housing instead of shelter — and Hospitality House’s portion dried up. So the nonprofit cobbled together funding from a dozen different sources to fill the hole left by the state money, Baglietto said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, Hospitality House keeps its shelter open through money from \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/health/2022/02/california-medi-cal-reform/\">CalAIM, Newsom’s recent Medi-Cal expansion\u003c/a>. The nonprofit still has a “massive” gap, which it is temporarily filling with federal COVID funds designed to help businesses retain employees. That money runs out next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t know each year where the funding is going to come from,” Baglietto said. “It’s kind of a nail-biting scenario.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>‘Havoc’ for California nonprofits\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Union Station Homeless Services, which coordinates programs throughout the San Gabriel Valley in Los Angeles County, faces the same issues, said CEO Anne Miskey. Every budget cycle, her team has to spend two or three months piecing together their financing as the funding they get from the state changes or ends. Sometimes, the parameters for a state grant shift and clients Union Station has been working with for years suddenly are no longer eligible.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“This is just creating havoc in our sector,” Miskey said. “And this is why people are leaving. It’s not the clients. It’s not the work. It’s this piece.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The new state budget has some new language around homelessness funding. It requires that anyone applying for a grant be part of a regional plan that lays out the specific roles and responsibilities of each participant.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That was something the \u003ca href=\"https://www.counties.org/sites/main/files/file-attachments/at_home_-_accountability_details_-_final_5-19-23.pdf?1684533540\">California State Association of Counties pushed for (PDF)\u003c/a>, arguing that currently cities, counties and other groups too often fight over who should be building shelters, offering mental health help or providing other homeless services.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The budget also promises that it is the Legislature’s “intent” to provide additional the same funding in the 2024-25 fiscal year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That’s not enough, said Graham Knaus, CEO of the California State Association of Counties.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Counties cannot budget based on legislative intent,” he said. “Nobody can. We certainly can’t make multi-year commitments based upon intent where there’s no clarity about what’s going to happen next year.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"slug": "what-california-can-learn-from-texas-shrinking-unhoused-population",
"title": "What California Can Learn From Texas' Shrinking Unhoused Population",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cem>LaVoy Darden is looking for someone. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Making the rounds through Houston’s homeless encampments as an outreach specialist for a local nonprofit group, he offers snacks, builds trust, and puts people on a waitlist for affordable housing. On good days he gets to tell them they’re moving into a home. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>But first, he has to find them. Today it’s a scorching 93 degrees, and there aren’t as many people out and about as usual. He spends hours combing the streets of Houston in his van — stopping along the way to update other clients on their housing searches — before he spots her.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>He leans out the driver’s-side window and yells. “Hey! You move in Monday!” \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sending someone from the street into permanent housing is the ultimate goal for Darden and legions of other outreach workers like him all over America. But it seems to happen more often in Houston, where the unhoused population shrank by more than half over the past decade. Compare that to California’s major cities, where the population surged by double-digits, and in some cases triple-digits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not just Houston. Texas as a whole last year recorded a 28% drop in homelessness since 2012, while California’s unhoused population grew by 43% over the same period. In Texas, 81 people are unhoused for every 100,000 residents. In California, the rate is more than five times worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954467\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954467\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas01.jpg\" alt=\"A man with long dreadlocks and a tan hat sits inside his vehicle as he writes on a piece of paper that's attached to a clipboard. A parking lot of cars is seen in the background, along with trees. The key is in the vehicle's ignition.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas01.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas01-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaVoy Darden with Search Homeless Services drives through his service area looking for clients in Houston, Texas on May 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jordan Vonderhaar/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And that’s despite the fact that Texas spends far fewer state dollars on homelessness. Last year, not counting federal money, Texas put $19.7 million into its three main homelessness programs — equal to about $806 per unhoused person. California, on the other hand, poured $1.85 billion into its three main programs — or $10,786 for every unhoused person.[aside postID=news_11949978 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/001_KQED_WoodStreet_JessicaFountaine_01052023-1020x680.jpg']How do residents view homelessness in each state? The difference is stark: Homelessness is \u003ca href=\"https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3868\">the No. 1 issue on California voters’ minds\u003c/a>, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll. In a 2020 poll of Texas residents, \u003ca href=\"https://www.texaslyceum.org/assets/docs/Poll/2020/2020%20Lyceum%20Day%201%20Executive_Summary.pdf\">it didn’t even crack the top 10 (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-texas-comparison/\">Texas doing so much better\u003c/a> on homelessness? Right-leaning observers are quick to blame the discrepancy on California’s too-progressive policies. Liberals may distrust the statistics coming out of Texas. But the reality is more nuanced — as California leaders are realizing, while their cities and nonprofits send delegation after delegation to Texas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With homelessness causing major tension in many California cities, and local and state efforts to get people off the streets continuing to fall short, Golden State leaders are desperate for new solutions. So desperate, that they’re going to a state whose deep-red policies California Democrats are better known for scorning than emulating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/bRrVN/1/\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José’s homelessness response team visited Houston earlier this year. City and county representatives from the Los Angeles area went last fall. They came away jealous of some of the advantages Houston has over California cities — such as the lower housing costs that make it easier for the Texas metropolis to find or build homes for people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Californians also were impressed by the way the city coordinates with the county and other local organizations, prioritizes funding for permanent housing instead of temporary shelters and finds places for people before clearing encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What those folks are doing — really focusing on housing folks — is working,” said Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow for the National Alliance to End Homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April, two city council members from the East Bay city of Richmond headed to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/austin-tiny-homes-california/\">Austin to tour a 51-acre tiny home community\u003c/a> that provides permanent housing for 350-and-counting unhoused residents. Elected officials from Sacramento trekked to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/texas-homeless-shelter/\">San Antonio to see a 1,600-person shelter\u003c/a> that offers everything from dental care to counseling — serving nearly the city’s entire unhoused population in one place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954518\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954518\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Left: Tiny homes used as residences at Community First! Village in Austin, Texas on May 12, 2023. Right: An employee plants sunflowers at Community First! Village in Austin, Texas on May 12, 2023.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"847\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-1536x508.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-2048x678.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-1920x635.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Tiny homes used as residences at Community First! Village in Austin, Texas on May 12, 2023. Right: An employee plants sunflowers at Community First! Village in Austin, Texas on May 12, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jordan Vonderhaar/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many experts agree California can learn something from these homeless solutions. But unless the Golden State fixes its housing affordability crisis decades in the making, copying the Lone Star State will get us only so far, said Eric Tars, legal director of the National Homelessness Law Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Elected officials in California are desperate for quick-fix solutions,” he said. “They want a silver bullet to be able to solve homelessness for them. And so when they see results like what’s happening in Houston … they say, ‘that’s great, we want that.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California Democrats often at odds with Texas GOP\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Texas may seem like an unlikely place for California to find inspiration on anything — especially social services. After all, the Republican-led state is completely out of sync with California’s liberal majorities on everything from guns to abortion to LGBTQ rights — feeding an ongoing public feud between Gov. Gavin Newsom and his Texas counterpart, Gov. Greg Abbott.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adding to the animosity, the California Legislature and some Golden State cities don’t even allow publicly funded travel to Texas. Some Californians who have made the trip have had to seek exemptions by arguing the travel is in their jurisdiction’s best interest.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"California Gov. Gavin Newsom\"]‘I don’t want to see any more people die in the streets and call that compassion.’[/pullquote]“When best practices are happening somewhere, don’t worry about what state they’re in,” said state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/dave-cortese-1956/\">Sen. Dave Cortese\u003c/a>, a Silicon Valley Democrat. “I have no problem looking them right in the eye and saying, ‘I don’t like where you’re going in terms of reproductive rights. I don’t like where you’re going in terms of your stubbornness on mass shootings and gun safety. But I do like what you’re doing on the housing front and I’d like to replicate some of that.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attitudes toward homelessness also differ widely between the two states. Earlier this year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-february-2023/\">70% of Californians said homelessness is a “big problem”\u003c/a> in their part of the state, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll. That’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/californians-see-a-rise-in-homelessness-in-their-communities/\">up from 63% in 2019\u003c/a>. By contrast, just \u003ca href=\"https://www.texaslyceum.org/assets/docs/Poll/2020/2020%20Lyceum%20Day%201%20Executive_Summary.pdf\">3% of Texans polled in 2020 said homelessness was the most important issue facing their state (PDF)\u003c/a>, according to the nonprofit Texas Lyceum.[aside postID=news_11926519 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2022/09/RS57341_027_KQED_WoodStreetEncampment_07192022-qut-1-1020x680.jpg']The three Texas cities getting the most attention from California — Houston, Austin and San Antonio — are blue islands in a red state. Houston, a bustling metropolis of 2.3 million people, is Texas’ largest city. Austin, the state’s capital and a mecca for artists, students and foodies, is famously quirky — and urges everyone to “keep Austin weird.” San Antonio lures tourists with the historic Alamo mission and picturesque, restaurant-lined river walk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cortese, who \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2023/04/california-homeless-spending-audit/\">recently called for an audit of California’s homelessness spending\u003c/a>, tried to bring a version of the Austin tiny home village to Santa Clara County while serving as a county supervisor several years ago, but the idea never got off the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and others in California argue what the Golden State is doing so far isn’t working, even though Newsom poured nearly $21 billion into housing and homelessness since he took office and vowed the issue is a top priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to see any more people die in the streets and call that compassion,” \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2022/01/california-homelessness-camps-newsom/\">Newsom said last year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954471\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954471\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas05.jpg\" alt=\"A man is seen outside of his makeshift tent, with a shopping cart full of his belongings, warming his hands by a small fire. It's nighttime. A "No Parking Anytime" sign in the background.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas05.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas05-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas05-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas05-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Muhammad, who declined to provide his last name, warms his hand at a fire near his tent in Sacramento. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His administration is well aware of the buzz around the Texas programs. Hafsa Kaka, the governor’s new senior adviser on homelessness, said Newsom’s policies compare well against the Texas sites.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Hafsa Kaka, Gov. Gavin Newsom’s senior adviser on homelessness\"]‘California continues to make unprecedented investments into housing and homelessness which includes shelter and wrap-around supportive services, cleaning up encampments, and creating more housing.’[/pullquote]Houston, Austin and San Antonio employ the same “housing first” approach that California has used for years, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While Austin built 350 small homes, we are putting 1,200 across the state, including 500 in Los Angeles,” she said in an emailed statement sent on behalf of Newsom’s office. “California continues to make unprecedented investments into housing and homelessness which includes shelter and wrap-around supportive services, cleaning up encampments, and creating more housing. The state has invested more to increase housing supply than ever before in our history while holding local governments accountable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the difference in outcomes in Texas versus California is unmistakable. The Houston area’s unhoused population dropped 57% between 2012 and last year, dipping to 3,124, according to the federally mandated point-in-time count. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/headway/houston-homeless-people.html\">A New York Times article\u003c/a> published last year highlighted the “remarkable progress,” catapulting the city that was already known in wonky homeless policy circles into the national limelight — and catching California’s attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County’s unhoused population increased 106% over the same period. Sacramento County’s jumped a whopping 230%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2vIpF/10/\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts agree the point-in-time counts supplying those numbers — which generally rely on volunteers and outreach workers tallying every unhoused person they see over one night — miss portions of the unhoused community. But the counts can be a useful tool to measure the change in a city’s unhoused population.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cheaper rent, more housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One reason more people find housing in Texas: costs. The median rent for a one-bedroom home in the state was $1,233 in early June, according to Zillow. In California, it was $2,200 — making it harder for people to get and stay housed here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Land and construction costs are cheaper in Texas, too, and the Lone Star State has fewer regulations that restrict construction. The city of Houston, for example, has no zoning — coupled with a strong mayor who can push projects through — making it easier to build and harder to block housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11954580\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM-800x622.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"622\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM-800x622.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM-1020x793.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM-160x124.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM-1536x1194.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM.png 1610w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://socds.huduser.gov/permits/output_annual.odb\">Texas permitted more than twice as many\u003c/a> new homes \u003ca href=\"https://socds.huduser.gov/permits/output_annual.odb\">as California\u003c/a>, even though California has about 9 million more residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means even when a California city is doing everything right, it’s still not going to be as successful as its Texas counterpart in reducing homelessness, said Jennifer Loving, CEO of nonprofit Destination: Home in Santa Clara County, who visited Houston in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do all the same stuff,” she said. “And the major difference is how much housing they have, how quickly it’s getting built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://e.infogram.com/4cd4fb85-56dc-4fd9-bc53-a1a394daf2c8?parent_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalmatters.org%2Fhousing%2F2023%2F06%2Fcalifornia-houston-homeless-solutions%2F&src=embed#async_embed\" width=\"800\" height=\"700\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But despite its lower housing costs and dramatic drop in homelessness, Houston hasn’t managed to get everyone off the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>As Darden, the outreach worker, continues his rounds, he ends up under the Highway Spur 527 overpass, where seven tents are arranged on a dirt lot amid a few dining room chairs and other scattered furniture. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Several of the people Darden speaks to at the camp already are housed or in the process of getting housing.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954519\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954519\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Left: Allison Hillman, left, and LaVoy Darden, right, with Search Homeless Services speak with a client about potential future housing in Houston, Texas on May 5, 2023. Right: A homeless encampment under Interstate Highway 69 in downtown Houston on May 5, 2023.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"847\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-1536x508.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-2048x678.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-1920x635.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Allison Hillman, left, and LaVoy Darden, right, with Search Homeless Services speak with a client about potential future housing in Houston, Texas on May 5, 2023. Right: A homeless encampment under Interstate Highway 69 in downtown Houston on May 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jordan Vonderhaar/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>One of them is 71-year-old Albert Mack, who has been homeless in Houston off-and-on for 15 years, alternating time on the street with housing placements that didn’t pan out. He left his last apartment because the neighborhood was too dangerous, he said. Now, he’s once again on his way to living indoors — he’s just waiting for a copy of his birth certificate from his home state of Alabama. He’s excited. This time, Mack said, he’s going to stay housed.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“I can take me a shower every day,” he said. “I can be inside. I don’t have to worry about nobody bothering me.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>More permanent housing, and collaboration\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When people like Mack get housed, it’s not only because rent is cheaper. Texas cities are doing other things differently than California, and Houston is a good example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Texas’ largest city pours its homeless funding — including COVID emergency dollars — into long-term housing instead of shelters that offer a temporary fix. Most of that housing is in privately-owned apartments, where vouchers help formerly homeless people pay the rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California, on the other hand, divides its resources between temporary and permanent homeless solutions. The state funneled COVID funds into short-term hotels that as of last year had given 50,000 people — almost 30% of the state’s unhoused population — brief respites from the street. Newsom’s administration later used COVID and general funds to turn nearly 13,000 hotel rooms, apartments and other units into longer-term homeless housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://e.infogram.com/d528338b-0ce5-422e-b71e-2db4f5079124?parent_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalmatters.org%2Fhousing%2F2023%2F06%2Fcalifornia-houston-homeless-solutions%2F&src=embed#async_embed\" width=\"800\" height=\"850\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in Texas’ largest city, government agencies have a reputation for working together. Houston collaborates with Harris County and local nonprofits on a shared plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles County, by contrast, four different local government groups apply separately for limited homelessness funding from the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that what we haven’t done is come together with a single plan,” said Cheri Todoroff, executive director of Los Angeles County’s Homeless Initiative, who went to Houston in September. “And that’s really what we were looking to learn from Houston.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LA County is working on creating a collaborative leadership commission, mirroring Houston’s, that would include elected officials, businesses, nonprofits and other leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Strict homeless enforcement in Texas\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Other parts of Texas’ approach to homelessness are more punitive than practices favored by California cities and state officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The red state passed a law \u003ca href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/20/texas-homeless-camps-ban-legislature/\">banning encampments throughout Texas\u003c/a> in 2021, obligating cities to clear camps and empowering law enforcement to cite and fine campers. California Republicans \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/04/california-homeless-city-laws/\">proposed two similar bills this year\u003c/a>, but got no traction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Individual cities in Texas also have their own local camping bans. In Austin, for example, police sometimes force unhoused residents to move out of encampments, even if they have nowhere else to go, and cite them if they don’t comply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954474\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954474\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas08.jpg\" alt=\"City workers in yellow and orange reflective vests work out in the hot Houston heat cleaning up an encampment. A man is pictured using a push-broom in the background.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas08.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas08-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Temporary Workers, contracted by the Texas Department of Transportation, remove trash and personal belongings from a homeless encampment under US Route 290 at Westgate Boulevard in Austin, Texas on Nov. 4, 2019. \u003ccite>(Jordan Vonderhaar/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Texas Gov. Abbott cultivates a hard-line stance against homelessness — leading a charge to clear encampments on state property, publicly attacking Austin’s Democratic leaders for being too soft on homelessness and pushing for the state’s camping ban. “No one has a right to urinate & defecate wherever they want,” he tweeted before the camping ban passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeming to take a page out of Texas’ book, California cities also are growing increasingly punitive. For instance, San Diego recently \u003ca href=\"https://voiceofsandiego.org/2023/06/14/san-diego-city-council-approves-crack-down-on-homeless-camps/\">approved a controversial encampment ban\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/04/california-homeless-city-laws/\">other cities have taken similar steps\u003c/a>. But a major difference: Due to the \u003ca href=\"https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/15-35845/15-35845-2018-09-04.html\">2018 federal court ruling Martin v. Boise\u003c/a>, California cities cannot clear camps or unilaterally ban encampments unless they have shelter beds to offer. Texas, in a different federal district, is not subject to that ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other aspects of Houston’s approach also might not translate well in California. Because Houston prioritizes long-term housing — the city and its county partners have moved more than 28,000 people into permanent housing since 2012 — it neglects the type of short-term shelters that quickly get someone off the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five days a week, 60-year-old Rachel Gonzales goes to The Beacon day center to eat breakfast and lunch, shower and do her laundry. At night, when the center is closed, she heads across the street to sleep on the sidewalk — without even a tent to protect her from the elements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beacon staff are trained to connect clients to permanent housing, and last year, about two-thirds of those who signed up gained a place to live. But the process can take months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzales has been waiting since November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s gonna be anytime soon,” she said. “You gotta think day by day. You can’t think about tomorrow, because if you think about tomorrow, think about a week from now, you’ll actually go crazy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Encampments still visible in Houston\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Houston’s lack of shelter beds and long wait times for housing allowed homeless encampments to proliferate, frustrating local residents — as they have in California. In 2018, the city began a push to “decommission” homeless camps. Now, former homeless camps dot the landscape — grassy strips by the side of the road or patches of dirt under overpasses that used to hold dozens of tents, but now are empty and circled by chain-link fences.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Terry Hardison, Houston navigation center resident\"]‘They make you realize you somebody again.’[/pullquote]How homeless camps are removed is one of the most contentious issues of the homelessness debate in California. Though the Boise ruling prevents cities in the Golden State from clearing camps without offering the occupants shelter, activists say many people aren’t given options that work for them. Some people may not be willing to give up a beloved pet in exchange for a bed in an animal-free shelter, for example, while others may have mental health conditions that make it hard to sleep in a crowded room. As a result, they instead scatter throughout the streets, losing contact with their caseworkers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Houston, when it’s time to clear a camp, outreach workers spend a month or more getting to know the occupants and figuring out what they need. Anyone they can’t immediately house generally is offered a spot in the city’s 100-bed navigation center, which opened in January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The navigation center is a big step up from traditional shelters where dozens of people sleep together, occupants have to leave early each morning, and residents often see no discernible path to long-term housing. At the navigation center, people sleep four to a room, can bring pets, and during the day can relax in a comfy living room with TVs, a pool table and snacks. Entire encampments move into the center at once, allowing people to maintain close friendships forged on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They make you realize you somebody again,” said 51-year-old Terry Hardison, who has been unhoused off and on since 1999. He was living under a bridge before coming to the navigation center. On a recent Saturday afternoon, he sat on the couch in the center’s common room, watching “G.I. Joe” on the TV with friends.[aside label='More on California’s Unhoused Community' tag='wood-street']But with only 100 beds, the navigation center can’t come close to accommodating everyone. People Darden meets on the street constantly ask how they can get in. He has to tell them the hard truth: Most often, they can’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those lucky enough to get a spot, there’s one big way the navigation center differs from a regular shelter: It gets people into permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the 57 occupants who moved through the navigation center since it opened, as of early May, 91% went into permanent housing — and it generally takes just 30 days. Navigation center clients are bumped up to the top of Houston’s housing waitlist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California also has navigation centers, but they haven’t been nearly as successful because there’s often no direct path from there into long-term housing. San Francisco’s largest center, for example, reported just 8% of the people who left its program ended up in permanent housing last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954475\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954475\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas09.jpg\" alt='A man with calm expression and a friendly smile poses for a portrait. He has a T-shirt on that reads, \"Search.\"' width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas09.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas09-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas09-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas09-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaVoy Darden with Search Homeless Services in Houston, Texas on May 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jordan Vonderhaar/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For other people, housing success stories play out outside the walls of the navigation center. Back in Darden’s outreach van, he’s making someone’s day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The woman on the side of the road hears Darden yell, telling her she’s moving into her new apartment Monday. She’d been referred for a placement before and never followed through. But this time, after one of her friends recently died on the street, Darden believes she’s ready to end her homelessness.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The woman stops what she’s doing and breaks into a happy dance. The dream of a permanent place to call home — something that seems so impossible for so many people living in tents and cars from Texas to California — is finally hers.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Darden grins. “Whew, I feel a lot better now,” he says, steering the outreach van back toward his office.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“It feels great. Just to see the look on their face.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cem>LaVoy Darden is looking for someone. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Making the rounds through Houston’s homeless encampments as an outreach specialist for a local nonprofit group, he offers snacks, builds trust, and puts people on a waitlist for affordable housing. On good days he gets to tell them they’re moving into a home. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>But first, he has to find them. Today it’s a scorching 93 degrees, and there aren’t as many people out and about as usual. He spends hours combing the streets of Houston in his van — stopping along the way to update other clients on their housing searches — before he spots her.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>He leans out the driver’s-side window and yells. “Hey! You move in Monday!” \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sending someone from the street into permanent housing is the ultimate goal for Darden and legions of other outreach workers like him all over America. But it seems to happen more often in Houston, where the unhoused population shrank by more than half over the past decade. Compare that to California’s major cities, where the population surged by double-digits, and in some cases triple-digits.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not just Houston. Texas as a whole last year recorded a 28% drop in homelessness since 2012, while California’s unhoused population grew by 43% over the same period. In Texas, 81 people are unhoused for every 100,000 residents. In California, the rate is more than five times worse.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954467\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954467\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas01.jpg\" alt=\"A man with long dreadlocks and a tan hat sits inside his vehicle as he writes on a piece of paper that's attached to a clipboard. A parking lot of cars is seen in the background, along with trees. The key is in the vehicle's ignition.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas01.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas01-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas01-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas01-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaVoy Darden with Search Homeless Services drives through his service area looking for clients in Houston, Texas on May 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jordan Vonderhaar/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>And that’s despite the fact that Texas spends far fewer state dollars on homelessness. Last year, not counting federal money, Texas put $19.7 million into its three main homelessness programs — equal to about $806 per unhoused person. California, on the other hand, poured $1.85 billion into its three main programs — or $10,786 for every unhoused person.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>How do residents view homelessness in each state? The difference is stark: Homelessness is \u003ca href=\"https://poll.qu.edu/poll-release?releaseid=3868\">the No. 1 issue on California voters’ minds\u003c/a>, according to a recent Quinnipiac University poll. In a 2020 poll of Texas residents, \u003ca href=\"https://www.texaslyceum.org/assets/docs/Poll/2020/2020%20Lyceum%20Day%201%20Executive_Summary.pdf\">it didn’t even crack the top 10 (PDF)\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Why is \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/california-homeless-texas-comparison/\">Texas doing so much better\u003c/a> on homelessness? Right-leaning observers are quick to blame the discrepancy on California’s too-progressive policies. Liberals may distrust the statistics coming out of Texas. But the reality is more nuanced — as California leaders are realizing, while their cities and nonprofits send delegation after delegation to Texas.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>With homelessness causing major tension in many California cities, and local and state efforts to get people off the streets continuing to fall short, Golden State leaders are desperate for new solutions. So desperate, that they’re going to a state whose deep-red policies California Democrats are better known for scorning than emulating.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/bRrVN/1/\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José’s homelessness response team visited Houston earlier this year. City and county representatives from the Los Angeles area went last fall. They came away jealous of some of the advantages Houston has over California cities — such as the lower housing costs that make it easier for the Texas metropolis to find or build homes for people.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the Californians also were impressed by the way the city coordinates with the county and other local organizations, prioritizes funding for permanent housing instead of temporary shelters and finds places for people before clearing encampments.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What those folks are doing — really focusing on housing folks — is working,” said Alex Visotzky, senior California policy fellow for the National Alliance to End Homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In April, two city council members from the East Bay city of Richmond headed to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/austin-tiny-homes-california/\">Austin to tour a 51-acre tiny home community\u003c/a> that provides permanent housing for 350-and-counting unhoused residents. Elected officials from Sacramento trekked to \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/06/texas-homeless-shelter/\">San Antonio to see a 1,600-person shelter\u003c/a> that offers everything from dental care to counseling — serving nearly the city’s entire unhoused population in one place.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954518\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954518\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Left: Tiny homes used as residences at Community First! Village in Austin, Texas on May 12, 2023. Right: An employee plants sunflowers at Community First! Village in Austin, Texas on May 12, 2023.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"847\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-1536x508.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-2048x678.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-1-JV-KQED-1920x635.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Tiny homes used as residences at Community First! Village in Austin, Texas on May 12, 2023. Right: An employee plants sunflowers at Community First! Village in Austin, Texas on May 12, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jordan Vonderhaar/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Many experts agree California can learn something from these homeless solutions. But unless the Golden State fixes its housing affordability crisis decades in the making, copying the Lone Star State will get us only so far, said Eric Tars, legal director of the National Homelessness Law Center.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Elected officials in California are desperate for quick-fix solutions,” he said. “They want a silver bullet to be able to solve homelessness for them. And so when they see results like what’s happening in Houston … they say, ‘that’s great, we want that.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>California Democrats often at odds with Texas GOP\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Texas may seem like an unlikely place for California to find inspiration on anything — especially social services. After all, the Republican-led state is completely out of sync with California’s liberal majorities on everything from guns to abortion to LGBTQ rights — feeding an ongoing public feud between Gov. Gavin Newsom and his Texas counterpart, Gov. Greg Abbott.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Adding to the animosity, the California Legislature and some Golden State cities don’t even allow publicly funded travel to Texas. Some Californians who have made the trip have had to seek exemptions by arguing the travel is in their jurisdiction’s best interest.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘I don’t want to see any more people die in the streets and call that compassion.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>“When best practices are happening somewhere, don’t worry about what state they’re in,” said state \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/legislator-tracker/dave-cortese-1956/\">Sen. Dave Cortese\u003c/a>, a Silicon Valley Democrat. “I have no problem looking them right in the eye and saying, ‘I don’t like where you’re going in terms of reproductive rights. I don’t like where you’re going in terms of your stubbornness on mass shootings and gun safety. But I do like what you’re doing on the housing front and I’d like to replicate some of that.’”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Attitudes toward homelessness also differ widely between the two states. Earlier this year, \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/publication/ppic-statewide-survey-californians-and-their-government-february-2023/\">70% of Californians said homelessness is a “big problem”\u003c/a> in their part of the state, according to a Public Policy Institute of California poll. That’s \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/californians-see-a-rise-in-homelessness-in-their-communities/\">up from 63% in 2019\u003c/a>. By contrast, just \u003ca href=\"https://www.texaslyceum.org/assets/docs/Poll/2020/2020%20Lyceum%20Day%201%20Executive_Summary.pdf\">3% of Texans polled in 2020 said homelessness was the most important issue facing their state (PDF)\u003c/a>, according to the nonprofit Texas Lyceum.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>The three Texas cities getting the most attention from California — Houston, Austin and San Antonio — are blue islands in a red state. Houston, a bustling metropolis of 2.3 million people, is Texas’ largest city. Austin, the state’s capital and a mecca for artists, students and foodies, is famously quirky — and urges everyone to “keep Austin weird.” San Antonio lures tourists with the historic Alamo mission and picturesque, restaurant-lined river walk.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Cortese, who \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/homelessness/2023/04/california-homeless-spending-audit/\">recently called for an audit of California’s homelessness spending\u003c/a>, tried to bring a version of the Austin tiny home village to Santa Clara County while serving as a county supervisor several years ago, but the idea never got off the ground.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>He and others in California argue what the Golden State is doing so far isn’t working, even though Newsom poured nearly $21 billion into housing and homelessness since he took office and vowed the issue is a top priority.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t want to see any more people die in the streets and call that compassion,” \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/politics/2022/01/california-homelessness-camps-newsom/\">Newsom said last year\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954471\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954471\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas05.jpg\" alt=\"A man is seen outside of his makeshift tent, with a shopping cart full of his belongings, warming his hands by a small fire. It's nighttime. A "No Parking Anytime" sign in the background.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas05.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas05-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas05-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas05-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Muhammad, who declined to provide his last name, warms his hand at a fire near his tent in Sacramento. \u003ccite>(Miguel Gutierrez Jr./CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>His administration is well aware of the buzz around the Texas programs. Hafsa Kaka, the governor’s new senior adviser on homelessness, said Newsom’s policies compare well against the Texas sites.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘California continues to make unprecedented investments into housing and homelessness which includes shelter and wrap-around supportive services, cleaning up encampments, and creating more housing.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Houston, Austin and San Antonio employ the same “housing first” approach that California has used for years, she said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“While Austin built 350 small homes, we are putting 1,200 across the state, including 500 in Los Angeles,” she said in an emailed statement sent on behalf of Newsom’s office. “California continues to make unprecedented investments into housing and homelessness which includes shelter and wrap-around supportive services, cleaning up encampments, and creating more housing. The state has invested more to increase housing supply than ever before in our history while holding local governments accountable.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But the difference in outcomes in Texas versus California is unmistakable. The Houston area’s unhoused population dropped 57% between 2012 and last year, dipping to 3,124, according to the federally mandated point-in-time count. \u003ca href=\"https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/14/headway/houston-homeless-people.html\">A New York Times article\u003c/a> published last year highlighted the “remarkable progress,” catapulting the city that was already known in wonky homeless policy circles into the national limelight — and catching California’s attention.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Los Angeles County’s unhoused population increased 106% over the same period. Sacramento County’s jumped a whopping 230%.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://datawrapper.dwcdn.net/2vIpF/10/\" width=\"800\" height=\"800\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Experts agree the point-in-time counts supplying those numbers — which generally rely on volunteers and outreach workers tallying every unhoused person they see over one night — miss portions of the unhoused community. But the counts can be a useful tool to measure the change in a city’s unhoused population.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Cheaper rent, more housing\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>One reason more people find housing in Texas: costs. The median rent for a one-bedroom home in the state was $1,233 in early June, according to Zillow. In California, it was $2,200 — making it harder for people to get and stay housed here.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Land and construction costs are cheaper in Texas, too, and the Lone Star State has fewer regulations that restrict construction. The city of Houston, for example, has no zoning — coupled with a strong mayor who can push projects through — making it easier to build and harder to block housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM.png\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-medium wp-image-11954580\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM-800x622.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"800\" height=\"622\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM-800x622.png 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM-1020x793.png 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM-160x124.png 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM-1536x1194.png 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/Screenshot-2023-06-29-at-11.58.06-AM.png 1610w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Last year, \u003ca href=\"https://socds.huduser.gov/permits/output_annual.odb\">Texas permitted more than twice as many\u003c/a> new homes \u003ca href=\"https://socds.huduser.gov/permits/output_annual.odb\">as California\u003c/a>, even though California has about 9 million more residents.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>That means even when a California city is doing everything right, it’s still not going to be as successful as its Texas counterpart in reducing homelessness, said Jennifer Loving, CEO of nonprofit Destination: Home in Santa Clara County, who visited Houston in March.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We do all the same stuff,” she said. “And the major difference is how much housing they have, how quickly it’s getting built.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://e.infogram.com/4cd4fb85-56dc-4fd9-bc53-a1a394daf2c8?parent_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalmatters.org%2Fhousing%2F2023%2F06%2Fcalifornia-houston-homeless-solutions%2F&src=embed#async_embed\" width=\"800\" height=\"700\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But despite its lower housing costs and dramatic drop in homelessness, Houston hasn’t managed to get everyone off the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>As Darden, the outreach worker, continues his rounds, he ends up under the Highway Spur 527 overpass, where seven tents are arranged on a dirt lot amid a few dining room chairs and other scattered furniture. \u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Several of the people Darden speaks to at the camp already are housed or in the process of getting housing.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954519\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 2560px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954519\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED.jpg\" alt=\"Left: Allison Hillman, left, and LaVoy Darden, right, with Search Homeless Services speak with a client about potential future housing in Houston, Texas on May 5, 2023. Right: A homeless encampment under Interstate Highway 69 in downtown Houston on May 5, 2023.\" width=\"2560\" height=\"847\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED.jpg 2560w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-800x265.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-1020x337.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-160x53.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-1536x508.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-2048x678.jpg 2048w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/230629-CM-TEXAS-COMBO-2-JV-KQED-1920x635.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 2560px) 100vw, 2560px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Left: Allison Hillman, left, and LaVoy Darden, right, with Search Homeless Services speak with a client about potential future housing in Houston, Texas on May 5, 2023. Right: A homeless encampment under Interstate Highway 69 in downtown Houston on May 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jordan Vonderhaar/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>One of them is 71-year-old Albert Mack, who has been homeless in Houston off-and-on for 15 years, alternating time on the street with housing placements that didn’t pan out. He left his last apartment because the neighborhood was too dangerous, he said. Now, he’s once again on his way to living indoors — he’s just waiting for a copy of his birth certificate from his home state of Alabama. He’s excited. This time, Mack said, he’s going to stay housed.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“I can take me a shower every day,” he said. “I can be inside. I don’t have to worry about nobody bothering me.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>More permanent housing, and collaboration\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>When people like Mack get housed, it’s not only because rent is cheaper. Texas cities are doing other things differently than California, and Houston is a good example.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Texas’ largest city pours its homeless funding — including COVID emergency dollars — into long-term housing instead of shelters that offer a temporary fix. Most of that housing is in privately-owned apartments, where vouchers help formerly homeless people pay the rent.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California, on the other hand, divides its resources between temporary and permanent homeless solutions. The state funneled COVID funds into short-term hotels that as of last year had given 50,000 people — almost 30% of the state’s unhoused population — brief respites from the street. Newsom’s administration later used COVID and general funds to turn nearly 13,000 hotel rooms, apartments and other units into longer-term homeless housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https://e.infogram.com/d528338b-0ce5-422e-b71e-2db4f5079124?parent_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcalmatters.org%2Fhousing%2F2023%2F06%2Fcalifornia-houston-homeless-solutions%2F&src=embed#async_embed\" width=\"800\" height=\"850\" scrolling=\"yes\" class=\"iframe-class\" frameborder=\"0\">\u003c/iframe>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>And in Texas’ largest city, government agencies have a reputation for working together. Houston collaborates with Harris County and local nonprofits on a shared plan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles County, by contrast, four different local government groups apply separately for limited homelessness funding from the state.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that what we haven’t done is come together with a single plan,” said Cheri Todoroff, executive director of Los Angeles County’s Homeless Initiative, who went to Houston in September. “And that’s really what we were looking to learn from Houston.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>LA County is working on creating a collaborative leadership commission, mirroring Houston’s, that would include elected officials, businesses, nonprofits and other leaders.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Strict homeless enforcement in Texas\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Other parts of Texas’ approach to homelessness are more punitive than practices favored by California cities and state officials.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The red state passed a law \u003ca href=\"https://www.texastribune.org/2021/05/20/texas-homeless-camps-ban-legislature/\">banning encampments throughout Texas\u003c/a> in 2021, obligating cities to clear camps and empowering law enforcement to cite and fine campers. California Republicans \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/04/california-homeless-city-laws/\">proposed two similar bills this year\u003c/a>, but got no traction.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Individual cities in Texas also have their own local camping bans. In Austin, for example, police sometimes force unhoused residents to move out of encampments, even if they have nowhere else to go, and cite them if they don’t comply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954474\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954474\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas08.jpg\" alt=\"City workers in yellow and orange reflective vests work out in the hot Houston heat cleaning up an encampment. A man is pictured using a push-broom in the background.\" width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas08.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas08-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas08-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas08-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Temporary Workers, contracted by the Texas Department of Transportation, remove trash and personal belongings from a homeless encampment under US Route 290 at Westgate Boulevard in Austin, Texas on Nov. 4, 2019. \u003ccite>(Jordan Vonderhaar/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Texas Gov. Abbott cultivates a hard-line stance against homelessness — leading a charge to clear encampments on state property, publicly attacking Austin’s Democratic leaders for being too soft on homelessness and pushing for the state’s camping ban. “No one has a right to urinate & defecate wherever they want,” he tweeted before the camping ban passed.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Seeming to take a page out of Texas’ book, California cities also are growing increasingly punitive. For instance, San Diego recently \u003ca href=\"https://voiceofsandiego.org/2023/06/14/san-diego-city-council-approves-crack-down-on-homeless-camps/\">approved a controversial encampment ban\u003c/a>, and \u003ca href=\"https://calmatters.org/housing/2023/04/california-homeless-city-laws/\">other cities have taken similar steps\u003c/a>. But a major difference: Due to the \u003ca href=\"https://law.justia.com/cases/federal/appellate-courts/ca9/15-35845/15-35845-2018-09-04.html\">2018 federal court ruling Martin v. Boise\u003c/a>, California cities cannot clear camps or unilaterally ban encampments unless they have shelter beds to offer. Texas, in a different federal district, is not subject to that ruling.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other aspects of Houston’s approach also might not translate well in California. Because Houston prioritizes long-term housing — the city and its county partners have moved more than 28,000 people into permanent housing since 2012 — it neglects the type of short-term shelters that quickly get someone off the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Five days a week, 60-year-old Rachel Gonzales goes to The Beacon day center to eat breakfast and lunch, shower and do her laundry. At night, when the center is closed, she heads across the street to sleep on the sidewalk — without even a tent to protect her from the elements.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Beacon staff are trained to connect clients to permanent housing, and last year, about two-thirds of those who signed up gained a place to live. But the process can take months.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Gonzales has been waiting since November.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I don’t think it’s gonna be anytime soon,” she said. “You gotta think day by day. You can’t think about tomorrow, because if you think about tomorrow, think about a week from now, you’ll actually go crazy.”\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>Encampments still visible in Houston\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Houston’s lack of shelter beds and long wait times for housing allowed homeless encampments to proliferate, frustrating local residents — as they have in California. In 2018, the city began a push to “decommission” homeless camps. Now, former homeless camps dot the landscape — grassy strips by the side of the road or patches of dirt under overpasses that used to hold dozens of tents, but now are empty and circled by chain-link fences.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>How homeless camps are removed is one of the most contentious issues of the homelessness debate in California. Though the Boise ruling prevents cities in the Golden State from clearing camps without offering the occupants shelter, activists say many people aren’t given options that work for them. Some people may not be willing to give up a beloved pet in exchange for a bed in an animal-free shelter, for example, while others may have mental health conditions that make it hard to sleep in a crowded room. As a result, they instead scatter throughout the streets, losing contact with their caseworkers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Houston, when it’s time to clear a camp, outreach workers spend a month or more getting to know the occupants and figuring out what they need. Anyone they can’t immediately house generally is offered a spot in the city’s 100-bed navigation center, which opened in January.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The navigation center is a big step up from traditional shelters where dozens of people sleep together, occupants have to leave early each morning, and residents often see no discernible path to long-term housing. At the navigation center, people sleep four to a room, can bring pets, and during the day can relax in a comfy living room with TVs, a pool table and snacks. Entire encampments move into the center at once, allowing people to maintain close friendships forged on the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“They make you realize you somebody again,” said 51-year-old Terry Hardison, who has been unhoused off and on since 1999. He was living under a bridge before coming to the navigation center. On a recent Saturday afternoon, he sat on the couch in the center’s common room, watching “G.I. Joe” on the TV with friends.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>But with only 100 beds, the navigation center can’t come close to accommodating everyone. People Darden meets on the street constantly ask how they can get in. He has to tell them the hard truth: Most often, they can’t.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For those lucky enough to get a spot, there’s one big way the navigation center differs from a regular shelter: It gets people into permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Of the 57 occupants who moved through the navigation center since it opened, as of early May, 91% went into permanent housing — and it generally takes just 30 days. Navigation center clients are bumped up to the top of Houston’s housing waitlist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California also has navigation centers, but they haven’t been nearly as successful because there’s often no direct path from there into long-term housing. San Francisco’s largest center, for example, reported just 8% of the people who left its program ended up in permanent housing last year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11954475\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1200px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11954475\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas09.jpg\" alt='A man with calm expression and a friendly smile poses for a portrait. He has a T-shirt on that reads, \"Search.\"' width=\"1200\" height=\"800\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas09.jpg 1200w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas09-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas09-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/CalMattersTexas09-160x107.jpg 160w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">LaVoy Darden with Search Homeless Services in Houston, Texas on May 5, 2023. \u003ccite>(Jordan Vonderhaar/CalMatters)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>For other people, housing success stories play out outside the walls of the navigation center. Back in Darden’s outreach van, he’s making someone’s day.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The woman on the side of the road hears Darden yell, telling her she’s moving into her new apartment Monday. She’d been referred for a placement before and never followed through. But this time, after one of her friends recently died on the street, Darden believes she’s ready to end her homelessness.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>The woman stops what she’s doing and breaks into a happy dance. The dream of a permanent place to call home — something that seems so impossible for so many people living in tents and cars from Texas to California — is finally hers.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>Darden grins. “Whew, I feel a lot better now,” he says, steering the outreach van back toward his office.\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cem>“It feels great. Just to see the look on their face.”\u003c/em>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fear of crime and blight in some of California’s biggest cities is increasing pressure on mayors to reduce visible street homelessness fast — even if it means not putting everyone into permanent affordable housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To do this, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and San Francisco’s London Breed have pushed for more funding for shelters and temporary housing in their city budgets. But homeless advocates worry that more funding for temporary solutions means less funding for permanent housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/3DCs9qg\">\u003cem>Episode transcript\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guests: \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/FitzTheReporter\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, political reporter for KQED and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/GuyMarzorati\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guy Marzorati\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, correspondent for KQED’s Politics & Government desk and producer of the Political Breakdown podcast\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"card card--enclosed grey\">\n\u003cp id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC2416506717&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Fear of crime and blight in some of California’s biggest cities is increasing pressure on mayors to reduce visible street homelessness fast — even if it means not putting everyone into permanent affordable housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">To do this, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan and San Francisco’s London Breed have pushed for more funding for shelters and temporary housing in their city budgets. But homeless advocates worry that more funding for temporary solutions means less funding for permanent housing.\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ca href=\"https://bit.ly/3DCs9qg\">\u003cem>Episode transcript\u003c/em>\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Guests: \u003c/b>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/FitzTheReporter\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, political reporter for KQED and \u003c/span>\u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/GuyMarzorati\">\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">Guy Marzorati\u003c/span>\u003c/a>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">, correspondent for KQED’s Politics & Government desk and producer of the Political Breakdown podcast\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cdiv class=\"card card--enclosed grey\">\n\u003cp id=\"embed-code\" class=\"inconsolata\">\n\u003c!-- iframe plugin v.4.3 wordpress.org/plugins/iframe/ -->\u003cbr>\n\u003ciframe loading=\"lazy\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"200\" scrolling=\"no\" src=\"https://playlist.megaphone.fm/?e=KQINC2416506717&light=true\" width=\"100%\" class=\"iframe-class\">\u003c/iframe>\n\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "Lack of Affordable Housing Is Driving Older Californians Into Homelessness",
"headTitle": "Lack of Affordable Housing Is Driving Older Californians Into Homelessness | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>With modern home prices out of reach for many California residents on fixed incomes, older adults have become the fastest-growing segment of the unhoused population across the state, according to \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/CASPEH\">new research released Tuesday from UCSF\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California makes up 30% of the nation’s unhoused population and is home to half of all the country’s unsheltered population, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/CASPEH\">landmark study\u003c/a>, which looks at how people in the Golden State become unhoused, experience homelessness, and exit homelessness. Nearly half of all unhoused adults in the study were age 50 or older, and Black and Native American residents were “dramatically overrepresented,” the study shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The results of the study confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing,” said Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative and principal investigator of the landmark study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The year-long study included responses from a sample of nearly 3,200 unhoused participants who together are representative of all adults experiencing homelessness statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote align=\"right\" size=\"medium\" citation=\"Dr. Margot Kushel, director, UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative\"]‘There aren’t as many unions, pensions, and housing costs have skyrocketed. The disconnect between what people make and what it costs to live is widening and widening.’[/pullquote]Contrary to beliefs that people migrate to California for homelessness services, the report found that the vast majority — 90% — of people who are unhoused in California are from California. And 75% of survey respondents were living in the same California county where they lost their housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomiquia Moss, founder and CEO of All Home, a regional homelessness policy organization, said those statistics mirror what she has encountered here in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t see a lot of those migration patterns even across the region. Rising housing costs and stagnant incomes in places where that is exacerbated is where we see significant increases in homelessness,” Moss told KQED. “We saw this in Oakland between 2017 and 2019, when housing costs rose exponentially, incomes dropped or were flat for folks, and homelessness rose 41% during that time period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most respondents, high housing prices were just unsustainable. About 21% of leaseholders cited loss of income as the main reason they lost their housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of those who held a lease just prior to becoming unhoused reported they were given just 10 days’ notice before they lost their housing, and non-leaseholders had often been given just one day’s notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As structural factors get less forgiving, you need fewer individual factors to become homeless. And the structural factors have gotten worse,” Kushel said. “There aren’t as many unions, pensions, and housing costs have skyrocketed. The disconnect between what people make and what it costs to live is widening and widening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside label=\"Related Stories\" postID=\"news_11952984,news_11953006,news_11952870\"]Nearly all participants in the study expressed interest in obtaining housing. However, 89% of all respondents said they can’t afford housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings are familiar for Patricia Wall, executive director of the Homeless Action Center, an organization that helps people including those experiencing homelessness sign up for programs like supplemental security income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have watched the population of homeless people age. Over the last 10 years particularly, we are seeing more and more clients over the age of 50,” Wall told KQED. “There isn’t the kind of safety net we like to imagine that there is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wall, who has worked closely with the unhoused population for nearly three decades, said she sees over and over again older clients get priced out of their homes and become unhoused when they don’t have a strong enough safety net.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even some of the options that do exist for people with low or fixed incomes, such as housing vouchers and units in subsidized buildings, have grown incredibly hard to access due to increasing demand and stagnant supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What used to be a resource for seniors has become like winning the lottery,” said Wall. “It takes years to get housing. If you are on top of your game and apply immediately when you see the opening, then your name gets on a list and you’re on there for maybe five years. There just aren’t enough physical units and subsidies available to make the kind of progress we need to make to reduce the number of unsheltered homeless. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of Wall’s clients are on SSI benefits either because they are too old to work or have a disability that prevents them from working. But the state has not kept pace with population growth in terms of building new affordable housing units, or units that can be made affordable through housing vouchers, leaving many people who could qualify to become unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There aren’t enough units for affordable housing,” Wall said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to highlighting barriers to exiting homelessness, the study also provides six recommendations for government and policymakers. They include increasing access to affordable units to extremely low-income households, either by building or expanding rental subsidies like housing vouchers and making it so more housing units can accept those vouchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also recommended is targeted homelessness prevention, such as financial assistance and legal support, and increased street-level outreach to people who are unsheltered. It also advocates for more robust services for mental health and substance use challenges for people while they are experiencing homelessness and in supportive housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opportunities to increase household income such as employment training and support signing up for benefits also were recommended. And researchers called for racial equity to guide these recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several components of the study offer hope as well. At least 86% of respondents said that just $300–$500 could be enough to get them into housing, and 90% believed a housing voucher or a similar option could have prevented their homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no question that the current situation is untenable. The question is, how do you allocate scarce resources?” Kushel said. “It was very hard to find anyone who didn’t want housing. When we asked what gets in the way of that, they said, ‘I can’t afford it.’ Period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>With modern home prices out of reach for many California residents on fixed incomes, older adults have become the fastest-growing segment of the unhoused population across the state, according to \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/CASPEH\">new research released Tuesday from UCSF\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>California makes up 30% of the nation’s unhoused population and is home to half of all the country’s unsheltered population, according to the \u003ca href=\"https://homelessness.ucsf.edu/CASPEH\">landmark study\u003c/a>, which looks at how people in the Golden State become unhoused, experience homelessness, and exit homelessness. Nearly half of all unhoused adults in the study were age 50 or older, and Black and Native American residents were “dramatically overrepresented,” the study shows.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The results of the study confirm that far too many Californians experience homelessness because they cannot afford housing,” said Dr. Margot Kushel, director of the UCSF Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative and principal investigator of the landmark study.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The year-long study included responses from a sample of nearly 3,200 unhoused participants who together are representative of all adults experiencing homelessness statewide.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Contrary to beliefs that people migrate to California for homelessness services, the report found that the vast majority — 90% — of people who are unhoused in California are from California. And 75% of survey respondents were living in the same California county where they lost their housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomiquia Moss, founder and CEO of All Home, a regional homelessness policy organization, said those statistics mirror what she has encountered here in the Bay Area.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We don’t see a lot of those migration patterns even across the region. Rising housing costs and stagnant incomes in places where that is exacerbated is where we see significant increases in homelessness,” Moss told KQED. “We saw this in Oakland between 2017 and 2019, when housing costs rose exponentially, incomes dropped or were flat for folks, and homelessness rose 41% during that time period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For most respondents, high housing prices were just unsustainable. About 21% of leaseholders cited loss of income as the main reason they lost their housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of those who held a lease just prior to becoming unhoused reported they were given just 10 days’ notice before they lost their housing, and non-leaseholders had often been given just one day’s notice.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“As structural factors get less forgiving, you need fewer individual factors to become homeless. And the structural factors have gotten worse,” Kushel said. “There aren’t as many unions, pensions, and housing costs have skyrocketed. The disconnect between what people make and what it costs to live is widening and widening.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Nearly all participants in the study expressed interest in obtaining housing. However, 89% of all respondents said they can’t afford housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The findings are familiar for Patricia Wall, executive director of the Homeless Action Center, an organization that helps people including those experiencing homelessness sign up for programs like supplemental security income.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I have watched the population of homeless people age. Over the last 10 years particularly, we are seeing more and more clients over the age of 50,” Wall told KQED. “There isn’t the kind of safety net we like to imagine that there is.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Wall, who has worked closely with the unhoused population for nearly three decades, said she sees over and over again older clients get priced out of their homes and become unhoused when they don’t have a strong enough safety net.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But even some of the options that do exist for people with low or fixed incomes, such as housing vouchers and units in subsidized buildings, have grown incredibly hard to access due to increasing demand and stagnant supply.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“What used to be a resource for seniors has become like winning the lottery,” said Wall. “It takes years to get housing. If you are on top of your game and apply immediately when you see the opening, then your name gets on a list and you’re on there for maybe five years. There just aren’t enough physical units and subsidies available to make the kind of progress we need to make to reduce the number of unsheltered homeless. ”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many of Wall’s clients are on SSI benefits either because they are too old to work or have a disability that prevents them from working. But the state has not kept pace with population growth in terms of building new affordable housing units, or units that can be made affordable through housing vouchers, leaving many people who could qualify to become unhoused.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There aren’t enough units for affordable housing,” Wall said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In addition to highlighting barriers to exiting homelessness, the study also provides six recommendations for government and policymakers. They include increasing access to affordable units to extremely low-income households, either by building or expanding rental subsidies like housing vouchers and making it so more housing units can accept those vouchers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also recommended is targeted homelessness prevention, such as financial assistance and legal support, and increased street-level outreach to people who are unsheltered. It also advocates for more robust services for mental health and substance use challenges for people while they are experiencing homelessness and in supportive housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Opportunities to increase household income such as employment training and support signing up for benefits also were recommended. And researchers called for racial equity to guide these recommendations.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Several components of the study offer hope as well. At least 86% of respondents said that just $300–$500 could be enough to get them into housing, and 90% believed a housing voucher or a similar option could have prevented their homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“There’s no question that the current situation is untenable. The question is, how do you allocate scarce resources?” Kushel said. “It was very hard to find anyone who didn’t want housing. When we asked what gets in the way of that, they said, ‘I can’t afford it.’ Period.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"title": "SF, San José Mayors Push to Fund Shelters as Pressure Builds on Encampments",
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"content": "\u003cp>A growing number of California mayors are pushing for a realignment of homelessness spending \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952913/san-jose-council-approves-modest-shift-toward-temporary-homeless-housing\">toward shelters and temporary housing\u003c/a> in the face of political pressure to clear encampments and deliver visible reductions of people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that shift has a trade-off: In a world of limited and often dwindling local dollars, more money for short-term solutions means less funding for permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This dynamic has led to pitched budget battles this month in the Bay Area’s two largest cities, with Mayors London Breed in San Francisco and Matt Mahan in San José pushing for more voter-approved homelessness dollars to go toward temporary housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[ad fullwidth]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayors are grappling with the legal reality that making housing available is a prerequisite for clearing tents — and they are bolstered by advancements in the quality of temporary shelters they can offer residents living on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We certainly need housing at all levels of affordability that will require public subsidy — not disagreeing with any of that,” said Mahan, who was dealt a setback this week \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952913/san-jose-council-approves-modest-shift-toward-temporary-homeless-housing\">when his homelessness spending plan was voted down\u003c/a> by the city council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"San Francisco Mayor London Breed\"]‘The goal is to shift it towards what the needs are. And so that includes housing, it includes shelter because we need to immediately get people into a place to help decide where they belong.’[/pullquote]\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But as long as we have thousands of people living and literally dying on our streets, I think we have to lean into the faster-to-deploy, more cost-effective solutions for getting people into a safe, managed environment with the privacy and stability that they need to take advantage of supportive services,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pressures driving this pivot are familiar to mayors across the state and the nation. Thousands of unsheltered residents are suffering and dying on city sidewalks, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/homeless-populations-are-rising-around-california/\">homelessness in California has risen since the pandemic at a higher rate than elsewhere in the country\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Breed, the shift is a political response to worsening street conditions. In her budget reveal at the end of May, she proposed a controversial move to help fund temporary shelters for unhoused adults by reallocating funding meant to build housing for families and young adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to shift it towards what the needs are. And so that includes housing, it includes shelter because we need to immediately get people into a place to help decide where they belong,” Breed said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11953071\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11953071\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with brown hair and a light blue dress stands with her hands folded in front of her. She is looking toward the left. She is standing in front of San Francisco's City Hall building listening to a speech.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor London Breed at San Francisco City Hall on Dec. 1, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass defeated a more pro-shelter opponent in last year’s mayoral election. But she has turned to temporary units and hotels as a way to ameliorate street homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Sacramento, city officials are scrambling to implement a voter-approved measure requiring a certain level of shelter capacity. And hours after San José’s vote, the city council in San Diego approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/homelessness/story/2023-06-13/study-shows-san-diego-falls-far-short-of-shelter-beds-needed-to-house-homeless-people\">an encampment ban that will necessitate an expansion of shelter beds\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are seeing interest in the quick-build, particularly, because I think to really address the dangerous encampments, to try to do it as quickly as possible, you need this kind of mid-term or interim approach,” said Michael Lane, state policy director at SPUR, a Bay Area think tank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that’s why you’re seeing some of these fights at the local level, because that is a relatively new development over the past few years to really say, yes, we need all of this,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lane shares in the consensus that cities need investments in permanent as well as temporary housing. But debates in San José and San Francisco have centered on limited pools of tax dollars dedicated to reducing homelessness.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside postID=news_11952870 hero='https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2021/02/RS41773_007_KQED_HousingSanFrancisco_02102020_2898-qut-1020x680.jpg']\u003c/span>In that context, a dollar spent paying for an affordable apartment complex can’t be used for a shelter bed. And then, there’s the politics: Both Mahan and Breed are up for reelection next year and face “tremendous pressure” to ensure their city streets are clear of homelessness, Lane said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, Mahan’s homelessness spending plan ran into heavy opposition from members of the city council, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952913/san-jose-council-approves-modest-shift-toward-temporary-homeless-housing\">instead opted to approve a more modest reallocation toward temporary beds\u003c/a>. Nevertheless, Mahan said that conversations with fellow mayors have led him to believe a broader “rebalancing” of homelessness spending priorities is underway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe this is a trend across the state,” he said. “I suspect that we will see federal, state and county sources shift toward the solutions that are faster and more cost-effective and help us scale solutions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also informing the mayors’ moves: the changing nature of shelter beds and the length of time people can stay in them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José has opened six interim housing sites that bear little resemblance to traditional congregate shelters. Instead of a cot in a large room, residents of the city’s emergency interim housing units can stay for months — and sometimes longer — in a prefabricated apartment, often with a private bathroom and on-site supportive services. When Breed announced her homelessness funding plan in May, she did so at the site of a tiny-home village on Gough Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>San Francisco mayor looks to redirect money for youth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, the permanent housing funds that Breed wants to tap come from a hard-fought pot of money intended for youth and families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 2018 ballot measure known as Proposition C, the Our City, Our Home tax, got just under a two-thirds majority vote to pass, opening it up to legal challenge — even after the effort got major financial backing from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. The measure eventually won out, and it taxes businesses making more than $50 million to raise an expected $300 million annually, half of which was earmarked for permanent housing by voter mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing a $780 million budget shortfall over the next two years, however, Breed’s new budget proposes the city reallocate roughly $60 million of Proposition C funding over the next two years — money that was intended to build permanent homes for young people age 18–24 who are experiencing homelessness, or families with children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, that funding may pay for the expansion of hours at two city homeless shelters, add 350 slots for temporary rental assistance and 75 units of supportive housing for adults, maintain the operation of a program helping people who live in oversize RVs to repair their vehicles, and to help fund a Bayview small-cabin shelter site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sherilyn Adams, executive director of Larkin Street Youth Services, a service provider focused on unhoused youth, said the city already under-spends on young people as well as “transitional age youth,” who are between 18 and 25.[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Sherilyn Adams, executive director, Larkin Street Youth Services\"]‘The reason there are people living outside is because we have insufficient housing stock for young people. That only gets worse if we don’t bring on any new interventions.’[/pullquote]There were roughly 1,100 people under 25 years old living on San Francisco’s streets during the last point-in-time count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason there are people living outside is because we have insufficient housing stock for young people. That only gets worse if we don’t bring on any new interventions” like building more housing, Adams said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893348/s-f-mayor-london-breed-on-how-to-prevent-an-economic-doom-loop-and-her-new-budget\">KQED’s Forum in early June\u003c/a>, Breed defended her budget reallocation, saying there aren’t any sites in San Francisco that have been identified yet to build housing for transitional-age youth. But Adams said that’s an easily fixable problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not having a building identified for transition-aged youth, so that they could allocate or use the existing Prop. C funds, does not mean that there’s not young people sleeping outside. It means you didn’t find a building. Unallocated is not the same as unneeded,” Adams said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Legal and national pressures on mayors \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Part of the push for California mayors to favor shelters over permanent housing is the result of legal constraints. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/23748522/tent-encampments-martin-boise-homelessness-housing\">2018 Martin v. City of Boise federal appeals court decision\u003c/a> bars locales from clearing out tent encampments if they don’t have enough shelter to offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco doesn’t have enough shelter placements for the number of people experiencing homelessness in the city, which in December prompted U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu to place an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11950967/advocates-for-unhoused-san-franciscans-say-encampment-sweeps-continue-despite-court-order-call-on-judge-to-rein-city-in\">injunction against encampment sweeps\u003c/a>.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Eric Tars, legal director, National Homelessness Law Center\"]‘When you have that increased street homelessness, in particular, you get this pressure for increased short-term, quick-fix kind of solutions. People want folks out of sight, out of mind.’[/pullquote]\u003c/span>Building more temporary shelters, then, is a pathway to gain the legal go-ahead to conduct more encampment sweeps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So while California is home to 30% of the U.S. unhoused population, the shift in funding allocation to favor temporary shelter is a national one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eric Tars, legal director of the National Homelessness Law Center, said in addition to the push being seen in Democratic California cities, many red states are contemplating the adoption of model legislation to put more funding toward short-term housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you have that increased street homelessness, in particular, you get this pressure for increased short-term, quick-fix kind of solutions. People want folks out of sight, out of mind. And so our elected officials are under pressure to kind of get those quick results,” Tars said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While he doesn’t think shelters are unnecessary — far from it — he does think the budget reallocations are shortsighted, and will actually increase homelessness rates in the long term.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Budget challenges ahead sharpen the debate\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Advocates involved in homelessness policy expect the tug-of-war between permanent and temporary housing to intensify — infusing future debates over shrinking local budgets and any attempts to bolster city coffers with new tax or bond money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, long-term budget projections are far from rosy. The Mayor’s Office confirmed its budget proposal still has structural deficits that will remain in future years and has large amounts of deficits plugged by one-time funding sources. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is expected to debate the budget with the mayor throughout June and put forward a compromise budget proposal by July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11953073\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11953073\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut.jpg\" alt='A man with a beard wearing a suit and tie stands behind a podium labeled, \"San José Capital of Silicon Valley.\" He is surrounded by people holding various signs. Some read, \"Protect our Democracy.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1182\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut-800x493.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut-1020x628.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut-1536x946.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan said that conversations with fellow mayors have led him to believe a broader ‘rebalancing’ of homelessness spending priorities is underway. ‘I believe this is a trend across the state,’ he said. ‘I suspect that we will see federal, state and county sources shift toward the solutions that are faster and more cost-effective and help us scale solutions.’ \u003ccite>(Guy Marzorati/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The debate over homelessness spending in San José hinged on money created by Measure E, a voter-approved tax on expensive home sales in the city. Mahan proposed spending $40 million in Measure E funds on short-term solutions such as prefabricated homes and parking lots for RV dwellers. When that plan was voted down, he joined a council majority to support putting $29 million toward those interim programs — leaving the largest share of city homelessness dollars for permanent housing.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">[aside label='More Stories on the Unhoused Community' tag='unhoused']\u003c/span>David Low, director of policy and communications for the nonprofit Destination: Home, said those funds are vital for the half-dozen permanent affordable housing projects awaiting Measure E funding next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have affordable housing projects ready to go, and without that funding, we will see further delays, increased costs, at a time we can afford neither, or the very serious risk that some of these projects will all fall apart together,” said Low, a former senior adviser to San José’s previous mayor, Sam Liccardo. “So it’s that real-world trade-off and that real-world opportunity we have to build more affordable housing that we don’t want to lose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those trade-offs are likely to dominate future budget discussions across the region and state, particularly as cities grapple with diminished general fund resources, said Lane, with SPUR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The push and pull between permanent and temporary housing will animate discussions about state housing aid from the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom. And the fight could be a key factor in determining the shape of a regional housing bond that could go before Bay Area voters next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To show that we actually have a way that we can move people from off the streets ultimately into permanent affordable housing … interim and mid-term types of solutions have to be a key part of that,” Lane said. “And I think that the voters will expect to see that as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomiquia Moss, CEO of the nonprofit All Home, sees the injection of new revenue as an opportunity to break the growing homelessness policy binary. Her organization works with elected officials, businesses and nonprofits across the Bay Area to promote regional strategies to reduce homelessness. At the core is a belief in concurrent investments in both temporary and permanent housing, in addition to aid for renters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tax and bond measures are no easy lift, particularly across a nine-county region. But Moss, who previously worked for Mayors Ed Lee in San Francisco and Libby Schaaf in Oakland, said such an initiative could unlock that full portfolio of solutions — and unite the factions of homelessness spending around a single cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That, to me, is where you are growing the pie,” Moss added. “You are not robbing Peter to pay Paul. You are increasing resources for the entire region.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n",
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"excerpt": "San José Mayor Matt Mahan and San Francisco’s London Breed are pushing to divert money from permanent affordable housing plans to temporary ones to aid the unhoused.",
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"title": "SF, San José Mayors Push to Fund Shelters as Pressure Builds on Encampments | KQED",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>A growing number of California mayors are pushing for a realignment of homelessness spending \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952913/san-jose-council-approves-modest-shift-toward-temporary-homeless-housing\">toward shelters and temporary housing\u003c/a> in the face of political pressure to clear encampments and deliver visible reductions of people experiencing homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But that shift has a trade-off: In a world of limited and often dwindling local dollars, more money for short-term solutions means less funding for permanent housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This dynamic has led to pitched budget battles this month in the Bay Area’s two largest cities, with Mayors London Breed in San Francisco and Matt Mahan in San José pushing for more voter-approved homelessness dollars to go toward temporary housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The mayors are grappling with the legal reality that making housing available is a prerequisite for clearing tents — and they are bolstered by advancements in the quality of temporary shelters they can offer residents living on the street.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We certainly need housing at all levels of affordability that will require public subsidy — not disagreeing with any of that,” said Mahan, who was dealt a setback this week \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952913/san-jose-council-approves-modest-shift-toward-temporary-homeless-housing\">when his homelessness spending plan was voted down\u003c/a> by the city council.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘The goal is to shift it towards what the needs are. And so that includes housing, it includes shelter because we need to immediately get people into a place to help decide where they belong.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“But as long as we have thousands of people living and literally dying on our streets, I think we have to lean into the faster-to-deploy, more cost-effective solutions for getting people into a safe, managed environment with the privacy and stability that they need to take advantage of supportive services,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The pressures driving this pivot are familiar to mayors across the state and the nation. Thousands of unsheltered residents are suffering and dying on city sidewalks, and \u003ca href=\"https://www.ppic.org/blog/homeless-populations-are-rising-around-california/\">homelessness in California has risen since the pandemic at a higher rate than elsewhere in the country\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>For Breed, the shift is a political response to worsening street conditions. In her budget reveal at the end of May, she proposed a controversial move to help fund temporary shelters for unhoused adults by reallocating funding meant to build housing for families and young adults.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The goal is to shift it towards what the needs are. And so that includes housing, it includes shelter because we need to immediately get people into a place to help decide where they belong,” Breed said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11953071\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11953071\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut.jpg\" alt=\"A woman with brown hair and a light blue dress stands with her hands folded in front of her. She is looking toward the left. She is standing in front of San Francisco's City Hall building listening to a speech.\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1278\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut-1020x679.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS52736_023_SanFrancisco_OmicronPressConference_12012021-qut-1536x1022.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">Mayor London Breed at San Francisco City Hall on Dec. 1, 2021. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>In Los Angeles, Mayor Karen Bass defeated a more pro-shelter opponent in last year’s mayoral election. But she has turned to temporary units and hotels as a way to ameliorate street homelessness.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In Sacramento, city officials are scrambling to implement a voter-approved measure requiring a certain level of shelter capacity. And hours after San José’s vote, the city council in San Diego approved \u003ca href=\"https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/news/homelessness/story/2023-06-13/study-shows-san-diego-falls-far-short-of-shelter-beds-needed-to-house-homeless-people\">an encampment ban that will necessitate an expansion of shelter beds\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We are seeing interest in the quick-build, particularly, because I think to really address the dangerous encampments, to try to do it as quickly as possible, you need this kind of mid-term or interim approach,” said Michael Lane, state policy director at SPUR, a Bay Area think tank.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I think that’s why you’re seeing some of these fights at the local level, because that is a relatively new development over the past few years to really say, yes, we need all of this,” he said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Lane shares in the consensus that cities need investments in permanent as well as temporary housing. But debates in San José and San Francisco have centered on limited pools of tax dollars dedicated to reducing homelessness.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>In that context, a dollar spent paying for an affordable apartment complex can’t be used for a shelter bed. And then, there’s the politics: Both Mahan and Breed are up for reelection next year and face “tremendous pressure” to ensure their city streets are clear of homelessness, Lane said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On Tuesday, Mahan’s homelessness spending plan ran into heavy opposition from members of the city council, who \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11952913/san-jose-council-approves-modest-shift-toward-temporary-homeless-housing\">instead opted to approve a more modest reallocation toward temporary beds\u003c/a>. Nevertheless, Mahan said that conversations with fellow mayors have led him to believe a broader “rebalancing” of homelessness spending priorities is underway.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“I believe this is a trend across the state,” he said. “I suspect that we will see federal, state and county sources shift toward the solutions that are faster and more cost-effective and help us scale solutions.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Also informing the mayors’ moves: the changing nature of shelter beds and the length of time people can stay in them.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José has opened six interim housing sites that bear little resemblance to traditional congregate shelters. Instead of a cot in a large room, residents of the city’s emergency interim housing units can stay for months — and sometimes longer — in a prefabricated apartment, often with a private bathroom and on-site supportive services. When Breed announced her homelessness funding plan in May, she did so at the site of a tiny-home village on Gough Street.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>San Francisco mayor looks to redirect money for youth\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, the permanent housing funds that Breed wants to tap come from a hard-fought pot of money intended for youth and families.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The 2018 ballot measure known as Proposition C, the Our City, Our Home tax, got just under a two-thirds majority vote to pass, opening it up to legal challenge — even after the effort got major financial backing from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff. The measure eventually won out, and it taxes businesses making more than $50 million to raise an expected $300 million annually, half of which was earmarked for permanent housing by voter mandate.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Facing a $780 million budget shortfall over the next two years, however, Breed’s new budget proposes the city reallocate roughly $60 million of Proposition C funding over the next two years — money that was intended to build permanent homes for young people age 18–24 who are experiencing homelessness, or families with children.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, that funding may pay for the expansion of hours at two city homeless shelters, add 350 slots for temporary rental assistance and 75 units of supportive housing for adults, maintain the operation of a program helping people who live in oversize RVs to repair their vehicles, and to help fund a Bayview small-cabin shelter site.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sherilyn Adams, executive director of Larkin Street Youth Services, a service provider focused on unhoused youth, said the city already under-spends on young people as well as “transitional age youth,” who are between 18 and 25.\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>There were roughly 1,100 people under 25 years old living on San Francisco’s streets during the last point-in-time count.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The reason there are people living outside is because we have insufficient housing stock for young people. That only gets worse if we don’t bring on any new interventions” like building more housing, Adams said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/forum/2010101893348/s-f-mayor-london-breed-on-how-to-prevent-an-economic-doom-loop-and-her-new-budget\">KQED’s Forum in early June\u003c/a>, Breed defended her budget reallocation, saying there aren’t any sites in San Francisco that have been identified yet to build housing for transitional-age youth. But Adams said that’s an easily fixable problem.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Not having a building identified for transition-aged youth, so that they could allocate or use the existing Prop. C funds, does not mean that there’s not young people sleeping outside. It means you didn’t find a building. Unallocated is not the same as unneeded,” Adams said.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Legal and national pressures on mayors \u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Part of the push for California mayors to favor shelters over permanent housing is the result of legal constraints. The \u003ca href=\"https://www.vox.com/23748522/tent-encampments-martin-boise-homelessness-housing\">2018 Martin v. City of Boise federal appeals court decision\u003c/a> bars locales from clearing out tent encampments if they don’t have enough shelter to offer.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San Francisco doesn’t have enough shelter placements for the number of people experiencing homelessness in the city, which in December prompted U.S. Magistrate Judge Donna M. Ryu to place an \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11950967/advocates-for-unhoused-san-franciscans-say-encampment-sweeps-continue-despite-court-order-call-on-judge-to-rein-city-in\">injunction against encampment sweeps\u003c/a>.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "‘When you have that increased street homelessness, in particular, you get this pressure for increased short-term, quick-fix kind of solutions. People want folks out of sight, out of mind.’",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>Building more temporary shelters, then, is a pathway to gain the legal go-ahead to conduct more encampment sweeps.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So while California is home to 30% of the U.S. unhoused population, the shift in funding allocation to favor temporary shelter is a national one.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Eric Tars, legal director of the National Homelessness Law Center, said in addition to the push being seen in Democratic California cities, many red states are contemplating the adoption of model legislation to put more funding toward short-term housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“When you have that increased street homelessness, in particular, you get this pressure for increased short-term, quick-fix kind of solutions. People want folks out of sight, out of mind. And so our elected officials are under pressure to kind of get those quick results,” Tars said.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While he doesn’t think shelters are unnecessary — far from it — he does think the budget reallocations are shortsighted, and will actually increase homelessness rates in the long term.\u003c/p>\n\u003ch2>\u003cstrong>Budget challenges ahead sharpen the debate\u003c/strong>\u003c/h2>\n\u003cp>Advocates involved in homelessness policy expect the tug-of-war between permanent and temporary housing to intensify — infusing future debates over shrinking local budgets and any attempts to bolster city coffers with new tax or bond money.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In San Francisco, long-term budget projections are far from rosy. The Mayor’s Office confirmed its budget proposal still has structural deficits that will remain in future years and has large amounts of deficits plugged by one-time funding sources. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors is expected to debate the budget with the mayor throughout June and put forward a compromise budget proposal by July.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11953073\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 1920px\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-11953073\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut.jpg\" alt='A man with a beard wearing a suit and tie stands behind a podium labeled, \"San José Capital of Silicon Valley.\" He is surrounded by people holding various signs. Some read, \"Protect our Democracy.\"' width=\"1920\" height=\"1182\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut.jpg 1920w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut-800x493.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut-1020x628.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut-160x99.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS61499_IMG_4613-qut-1536x946.jpg 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1920px) 100vw, 1920px\">\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan said that conversations with fellow mayors have led him to believe a broader ‘rebalancing’ of homelessness spending priorities is underway. ‘I believe this is a trend across the state,’ he said. ‘I suspect that we will see federal, state and county sources shift toward the solutions that are faster and more cost-effective and help us scale solutions.’ \u003ccite>(Guy Marzorati/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>The debate over homelessness spending in San José hinged on money created by Measure E, a voter-approved tax on expensive home sales in the city. Mahan proposed spending $40 million in Measure E funds on short-term solutions such as prefabricated homes and parking lots for RV dwellers. When that plan was voted down, he joined a council majority to support putting $29 million toward those interim programs — leaving the largest share of city homelessness dollars for permanent housing.\u003cspan style=\"font-weight: 400\">\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/span>David Low, director of policy and communications for the nonprofit Destination: Home, said those funds are vital for the half-dozen permanent affordable housing projects awaiting Measure E funding next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We have affordable housing projects ready to go, and without that funding, we will see further delays, increased costs, at a time we can afford neither, or the very serious risk that some of these projects will all fall apart together,” said Low, a former senior adviser to San José’s previous mayor, Sam Liccardo. “So it’s that real-world trade-off and that real-world opportunity we have to build more affordable housing that we don’t want to lose.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Those trade-offs are likely to dominate future budget discussions across the region and state, particularly as cities grapple with diminished general fund resources, said Lane, with SPUR.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The push and pull between permanent and temporary housing will animate discussions about state housing aid from the Legislature and Gov. Gavin Newsom. And the fight could be a key factor in determining the shape of a regional housing bond that could go before Bay Area voters next year.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“To show that we actually have a way that we can move people from off the streets ultimately into permanent affordable housing … interim and mid-term types of solutions have to be a key part of that,” Lane said. “And I think that the voters will expect to see that as well.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tomiquia Moss, CEO of the nonprofit All Home, sees the injection of new revenue as an opportunity to break the growing homelessness policy binary. Her organization works with elected officials, businesses and nonprofits across the Bay Area to promote regional strategies to reduce homelessness. At the core is a belief in concurrent investments in both temporary and permanent housing, in addition to aid for renters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Tax and bond measures are no easy lift, particularly across a nine-county region. But Moss, who previously worked for Mayors Ed Lee in San Francisco and Libby Schaaf in Oakland, said such an initiative could unlock that full portfolio of solutions — and unite the factions of homelessness spending around a single cause.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“That, to me, is where you are growing the pie,” Moss added. “You are not robbing Peter to pay Paul. You are increasing resources for the entire region.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>San José’s city council approved a budget Tuesday that aims to reduce street homelessness by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942734/emergency-calls-complaints-are-down-near-san-joses-temporary-housing-sites-so-why-are-they-still-so-politically-risky\">shifting millions of dollars from permanent to temporary housing\u003c/a> — though the council rejected a larger pivot toward shelter funding advocated by Mayor Matt Mahan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final vote on the city’s $5.2 billion spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949797/in-controversial-plan-san-jose-mayor-seeks-to-use-homelessness-dollars-to-build-more-temporary-shelters-instead-of-permanent-housing\">came after weeks of debate over homelessness spending\u003c/a>. Mahan, who campaigned on a promise of reducing encampments, used this budget to argue that more prefabricated housing was needed to move the city’s 4,411 unsheltered residents off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But many of his colleagues on the council feared that pulling money away from the construction of permanent housing would lead to affordable apartment projects dying on the vine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[pullquote size=\"medium\" align=\"right\" citation=\"Dontae Lartigue, founder and CEO, Razing the Bar\"]‘The problem is we’re not investing in the people that call San José their home, that were born here in this city and they can’t afford to live here.’[/pullquote]At the heart of the debate was how to spend $87 million in dedicated homelessness dollars left over from the current and previous fiscal years. Those funds were created through the passage of Measure E, an initiative passed by voters in 2020 that levies a tax on home sales of $2 million or more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The compromise reached after hours of negotiation on the council dais will put one-quarter of the unspent homelessness dollars, roughly $22 million, toward developing and operating temporary housing and shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We still have the full commitment to the low-income affordable housing that I think the voters wanted us to have,” said Councilmember David Cohen, who brokered the final deal, in an interview after the vote. “But it’s clear also that the residents in San José want swift and meaningful action for people who are unsheltered on the streets, and supporting interim housing is going to help us get there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, the spending approved Tuesday allocates $93.2 million to build permanent affordable housing across a variety of income levels, $29.1 million for temporary housing and $7.4 million on aid and assistance for renters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan’s plan, which would have put $33 million in unspent Measure E funds toward short-term housing, was voted down by the council. While the mayor was able to find consensus around the idea that unhoused residents need faster, cheaper exit ramps out of encampments and creek beds, he couldn’t build a coalition to support anything more than a modest redirection of funds toward temporary units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11952937\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11952937\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with a maroon sweater smiles as he looks past the camera. He has salt and pepper hair and is standing outdoors with trees behind him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan in San José on Nov. 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Certainly disappointed it wasn’t more and I think we’ll be back to this conversation next year,” Mahan said. “But I think it’s certainly a move in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[aside postID=\"news_11949797,news_11942734\" label=\"Related Posts\"]Fierce pushback from the council and housing advocates has forced Mahan to pare back his proposals throughout the spring. Earlier this month, the mayor jettisoned \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949797/in-controversial-plan-san-jose-mayor-seeks-to-use-homelessness-dollars-to-build-more-temporary-shelters-instead-of-permanent-housing\">a plan that would have eliminated future Measure E funding\u003c/a> for permanent housing. Tuesday’s agreement distributes homelessness dollars in the upcoming 2023–24 fiscal year under the existing formula, putting roughly three-quarters of the $50 million in expected revenue toward constructing affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who represents East San José, said the mayor’s shelter strategy was being driven by short-term politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should not be considering quick wins that lack the investment necessary to impact lasting change,” Ortiz said. “It’s not the city council’s job to complete campaign promises or to help officials get reelected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949856\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11949856\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A bunk bed with black frame and mattresses covered in navy sheets is inside a small shipping container that was converted into temporary housing. A yellow door and a sink are seen just behind the bunk bed.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The interior of a family home at Evans Lane, an interim housing facility located on city-owned land in San José, on Jan. 30, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tuesday’s vote doesn’t answer the longer-term question of how to pay for all the homeless housing San José leaders are hoping to build. The city currently operates six interim housing sites with 628 beds, and is planning for many more. An analysis from San José’s budget director found that costs for temporary housing will begin to outpace dedicated funding by the end of the decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Over the long haul, we’re going to have to dip into the general fund, unless we have a good economy and money keeps on coming in or we find alternative sources of funding,” said Councilmember Rosemary Kamei.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thus far, the slowing economy has had less impact on San José’s budget compared to the Bay Area’s other large cities. San José is entering the new fiscal year with a modest projected surplus of $35 million. Most of that windfall — $18.8 million — will be socked away for the next fiscal year, when city analysts project a deficit of that amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan has had no problem getting approval for his other top spending priority: hiring more officers in the San José Police Department, in hopes of lowering response times to 911 calls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His request has created 31 new positions, including 17 officers, two sergeants and one lieutenant with a projected start date of February 2025. Six new community service officers, who typically respond to lower-priority calls such as petty theft and vandalism, will be assigned to downtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents who turned out to Tuesday’s meeting largely focused their comments on homelessness spending. That followed more than five hours of public comment on Measure E plans on Monday evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dontae Lartigue, who runs Razing the Bar, a nonprofit providing mentoring for transitional-age youth, told the council that he’s benefited from living in subsidized housing for the last 11 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is we’re not investing in the people that call San José their home, that were born here in this city and they can’t afford to live here,” Lartigue said. “If we stop investing in permanent supportive housing and try to divert funds into interim housing, we’re going to run into big problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José resident Jenice Condie urged the council to get behind Mahan’s reallocation and give him an opportunity to realize a top campaign promise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad floatright]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it doesn’t work, we can always vote him out next time,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>San José’s city council approved a budget Tuesday that aims to reduce street homelessness by \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11942734/emergency-calls-complaints-are-down-near-san-joses-temporary-housing-sites-so-why-are-they-still-so-politically-risky\">shifting millions of dollars from permanent to temporary housing\u003c/a> — though the council rejected a larger pivot toward shelter funding advocated by Mayor Matt Mahan.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The final vote on the city’s $5.2 billion spending plan for the fiscal year beginning July 1 \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949797/in-controversial-plan-san-jose-mayor-seeks-to-use-homelessness-dollars-to-build-more-temporary-shelters-instead-of-permanent-housing\">came after weeks of debate over homelessness spending\u003c/a>. Mahan, who campaigned on a promise of reducing encampments, used this budget to argue that more prefabricated housing was needed to move the city’s 4,411 unsheltered residents off the streets.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But many of his colleagues on the council feared that pulling money away from the construction of permanent housing would lead to affordable apartment projects dying on the vine.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>At the heart of the debate was how to spend $87 million in dedicated homelessness dollars left over from the current and previous fiscal years. Those funds were created through the passage of Measure E, an initiative passed by voters in 2020 that levies a tax on home sales of $2 million or more.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The compromise reached after hours of negotiation on the council dais will put one-quarter of the unspent homelessness dollars, roughly $22 million, toward developing and operating temporary housing and shelter.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We still have the full commitment to the low-income affordable housing that I think the voters wanted us to have,” said Councilmember David Cohen, who brokered the final deal, in an interview after the vote. “But it’s clear also that the residents in San José want swift and meaningful action for people who are unsheltered on the streets, and supporting interim housing is going to help us get there.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In all, the spending approved Tuesday allocates $93.2 million to build permanent affordable housing across a variety of income levels, $29.1 million for temporary housing and $7.4 million on aid and assistance for renters.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan’s plan, which would have put $33 million in unspent Measure E funds toward short-term housing, was voted down by the council. While the mayor was able to find consensus around the idea that unhoused residents need faster, cheaper exit ramps out of encampments and creek beds, he couldn’t build a coalition to support anything more than a modest redirection of funds toward temporary units.\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11952937\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11952937\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A white man with a maroon sweater smiles as he looks past the camera. He has salt and pepper hair and is standing outdoors with trees behind him.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/06/RS59960_025_KQED_MattMahanSanJose_11082022-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">San José Mayor Matt Mahan in San José on Nov. 8, 2022. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>“Certainly disappointed it wasn’t more and I think we’ll be back to this conversation next year,” Mahan said. “But I think it’s certainly a move in the right direction.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>Fierce pushback from the council and housing advocates has forced Mahan to pare back his proposals throughout the spring. Earlier this month, the mayor jettisoned \u003ca href=\"https://www.kqed.org/news/11949797/in-controversial-plan-san-jose-mayor-seeks-to-use-homelessness-dollars-to-build-more-temporary-shelters-instead-of-permanent-housing\">a plan that would have eliminated future Measure E funding\u003c/a> for permanent housing. Tuesday’s agreement distributes homelessness dollars in the upcoming 2023–24 fiscal year under the existing formula, putting roughly three-quarters of the $50 million in expected revenue toward constructing affordable housing.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Councilmember Peter Ortiz, who represents East San José, said the mayor’s shelter strategy was being driven by short-term politics.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“We should not be considering quick wins that lack the investment necessary to impact lasting change,” Ortiz said. “It’s not the city council’s job to complete campaign promises or to help officials get reelected.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cfigure id=\"attachment_11949856\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"max-width: 800px\">\u003ca href=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut.jpg\">\u003cimg loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-medium wp-image-11949856\" src=\"https://ww2.kqed.org/app/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut-800x533.jpg\" alt=\"A bunk bed with black frame and mattresses covered in navy sheets is inside a small shipping container that was converted into temporary housing. A yellow door and a sink are seen just behind the bunk bed.\" width=\"800\" height=\"533\" srcset=\"https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut-800x533.jpg 800w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut-1020x680.jpg 1020w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut-160x107.jpg 160w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2023/05/RS62452_022_KQED_SanJoseInterimHousing_01302023-qut.jpg 1920w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\">\u003c/a>\u003cfigcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\">The interior of a family home at Evans Lane, an interim housing facility located on city-owned land in San José, on Jan. 30, 2023. \u003ccite>(Beth LaBerge/KQED)\u003c/cite>\u003c/figcaption>\u003c/figure>\n\u003cp>Tuesday’s vote doesn’t answer the longer-term question of how to pay for all the homeless housing San José leaders are hoping to build. The city currently operates six interim housing sites with 628 beds, and is planning for many more. An analysis from San José’s budget director found that costs for temporary housing will begin to outpace dedicated funding by the end of the decade.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“Over the long haul, we’re going to have to dip into the general fund, unless we have a good economy and money keeps on coming in or we find alternative sources of funding,” said Councilmember Rosemary Kamei.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Thus far, the slowing economy has had less impact on San José’s budget compared to the Bay Area’s other large cities. San José is entering the new fiscal year with a modest projected surplus of $35 million. Most of that windfall — $18.8 million — will be socked away for the next fiscal year, when city analysts project a deficit of that amount.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Mahan has had no problem getting approval for his other top spending priority: hiring more officers in the San José Police Department, in hopes of lowering response times to 911 calls.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>His request has created 31 new positions, including 17 officers, two sergeants and one lieutenant with a projected start date of February 2025. Six new community service officers, who typically respond to lower-priority calls such as petty theft and vandalism, will be assigned to downtown.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Residents who turned out to Tuesday’s meeting largely focused their comments on homelessness spending. That followed more than five hours of public comment on Measure E plans on Monday evening.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Dontae Lartigue, who runs Razing the Bar, a nonprofit providing mentoring for transitional-age youth, told the council that he’s benefited from living in subsidized housing for the last 11 years.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“The problem is we’re not investing in the people that call San José their home, that were born here in this city and they can’t afford to live here,” Lartigue said. “If we stop investing in permanent supportive housing and try to divert funds into interim housing, we’re going to run into big problems.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>San José resident Jenice Condie urged the council to get behind Mahan’s reallocation and give him an opportunity to realize a top campaign promise.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>“If it doesn’t work, we can always vote him out next time,” she said.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "Our flagship program, helmed by Kai Ryssdal, examines what the day in money delivered, through stories, conversations, newsworthy numbers and more. Updated Monday through Friday at about 3:30 p.m. PT.",
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"info": "The MindShift podcast explores the innovations in education that are shaping how kids learn. Hosts Ki Sung and Katrina Schwartz introduce listeners to educators, researchers, parents and students who are developing effective ways to improve how kids learn. We cover topics like how fed-up administrators are developing surprising tactics to deal with classroom disruptions; how listening to podcasts are helping kids develop reading skills; the consequences of overparenting; and why interdisciplinary learning can engage students on all ends of the traditional achievement spectrum. This podcast is part of the MindShift education site, a division of KQED News. KQED is an NPR/PBS member station based in San Francisco. You can also visit the MindShift website for episodes and supplemental blog posts or tweet us \u003ca href=\"https://twitter.com/MindShiftKQED\">@MindShiftKQED\u003c/a> or visit us at \u003ca href=\"/mindshift\">MindShift.KQED.org\u003c/a>",
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"info": "For decades, the process for how police police themselves has been inconsistent – if not opaque. In some states, like California, these proceedings were completely hidden. After a new police transparency law unsealed scores of internal affairs files, our reporters set out to examine these cases and the shadow world of police discipline. On Our Watch brings listeners into the rooms where officers are questioned and witnesses are interrogated to find out who this system is really protecting. Is it the officers, or the public they've sworn to serve?",
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"tagline": "Politics from a personal perspective",
"info": "Political Breakdown is a new series that explores the political intersection of California and the nation. Each week hosts Scott Shafer and Marisa Lagos are joined with a new special guest to unpack politics -- with personality — and offer an insider’s glimpse at how politics happens.",
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"possible": {
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"pri-the-world": {
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"info": "Each weekday, host Marco Werman and his team of producers bring you the world's most interesting stories in an hour of radio that reminds us just how small our planet really is.",
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"imageSrc": "https://cdn.kqed.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/The-World-Podcast-Tile-360x360-1.jpg",
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},
"radiolab": {
"id": "radiolab",
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"info": "A two-time Peabody Award-winner, Radiolab is an investigation told through sounds and stories, and centered around one big idea. In the Radiolab world, information sounds like music and science and culture collide. Hosted by Jad Abumrad and Robert Krulwich, the show is designed for listeners who demand skepticism, but appreciate wonder. WNYC Studios is the producer of other leading podcasts including Freakonomics Radio, Death, Sex & Money, On the Media and many more.",
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"reveal": {
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"info": "Created by The Center for Investigative Reporting and PRX, Reveal is public radios first one-hour weekly radio show and podcast dedicated to investigative reporting. Credible, fact based and without a partisan agenda, Reveal combines the power and artistry of driveway moment storytelling with data-rich reporting on critically important issues. The result is stories that inform and inspire, arming our listeners with information to right injustices, hold the powerful accountable and improve lives.Reveal is hosted by Al Letson and showcases the award-winning work of CIR and newsrooms large and small across the nation. In a radio and podcast market crowded with choices, Reveal focuses on important and often surprising stories that illuminate the world for our listeners.",
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"officialWebsiteLink": "https://www.revealnews.org/episodes/",
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},
"rightnowish": {
"id": "rightnowish",
"title": "Rightnowish",
"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
"info": "Rightnowish digs into life in the Bay Area right now… ish. Journalist Pendarvis Harshaw takes us to galleries painted on the sides of liquor stores in West Oakland. We'll dance in warehouses in the Bayview, make smoothies with kids in South Berkeley, and listen to classical music in a 1984 Cutlass Supreme in Richmond. Every week, Pen talks to movers and shakers about how the Bay Area shapes what they create, and how they shape the place we call home.",
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},
"science-friday": {
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