California’s state budget crunch is the perfect time to review every dollar spent on homeless programs.
This is especially true considering the narrow approval in March of Proposition 1, which pumps another $6.4 billion in bond money into such programs.
California Auditor Grant Parks in April scorched the state for lacking “current information on the ongoing costs and outcomes of its homelessness programs.” That the state spent $24 billion on such programs from 2018-19 through 2022-23 and yet hasn’t bothered to track the cost-effectiveness of such efforts ought to trouble every taxpayer in California.
Despite all that, 13 members of the California Big City Mayors coalition insisted in a May 21 letter to California legislative leaders that current homeless funding levels must be maintained.
“Now is not the time to abandon efforts to shelter and house people as we see results,” wrote the mayors. They included Karen Bass of Los Angeles, Rex Richardson of Long Beach, Ashleigh Aitken of Anaheim, Patricia Lock Dawson of Riverside and Farrah Khan of Irvine.
The mayors specifically called for continuing Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention dollars that have helped 150,000 homeless. Yet the state audit said it was unable to determine cost-effectiveness “because of the lack of clear data about outcomes for people who received HHAP-funded services.”
The mayors conceded that Gov. Gavin Newsom has called for greater accountability. And they welcomed more efforts that push cities and counties “to greater coordination and a greater focus on outcomes.”
But simultaneous with his statewide homeless audit, Parks produced a separate report on two cities, San Diego and San Jose. It found such problems as, “neither city evaluated the effectiveness of its agreements” with external service providers. The Legislature should authorize similar audits of the other 11 of the Top 13 cities so that taxpayers and policymakers alike can know if those cities are truly doing what they need to do.
The fact is there isn’t enough money to continue pumping finite resources into dubiously effective programs. Cities should welcome audits and prove they are actually doing the best they can.