Gov. Gavin Newsom visited Skid Row on Tuesday to announce new state funding that will bring $380 million to the Los Angeles area for homeless housing, shelter, rental assistance, outreach and prevention.
The fifth round of the Homeless Housing Assistance and Prevention Program will allocate $827 million across the state and come with stricter accountability and transparency measures, Newsom said.
The city of Los Angeles will receive $160 million and the county $94 million. The remainder will be donated to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority and individual homeless service agencies in Glendale, Long Beach and Pasadena.
Newsom said a key element of the new accountability will require cities and counties to present local plans based on contracts that establish “role and responsibility expectations” among all agencies. said.
He was joined by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, County Supervisors Hilda Solis and Kathryn Berger, and Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority Chief Executive Officer Va. Lesia Adams Kellam.
Bass said she, supervisors and homelessness officials are now working on a united front, moving beyond the bickering and finger-pointing that had previously hampered local efforts.
“This is an example of the work we have been doing over the past several years to bring together all levels of government,” she said.
Newsom said the grant program, which cost $2.4 billion in its first four rounds, was established in the last year of former Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration, when about $500 million was given “without accountability or expectations.” ” was used.
“Since then, we have significantly increased investment, but we have also increased accountability, transparency and expectations,” Newsom said.
Although he did not go into details, Newsom said the additional accountability would come through “a framework of expectations and reporting that is no longer on a quarterly or semi-annual basis, but on a monthly basis.”
The announcement received mild criticism from Republican state Sen. Roger Niello (R-Fair Oaks). He praised Los Angeles officials for their efforts to remove people from the streets and Newsom’s promise of accountability.
But he remained skeptical given a recent report from the state auditor’s office that concluded the state was failing to adequately monitor the results of its massive spending on homelessness.
“He used the word accountability and accountability so many times that if I had a nickel every time he used it, it would be enough to pay for the lunch I’m going to go to,” Niello said. . “If the past is prologue, then they are just words.”
Homelessness spending should ultimately be directed toward making people self-sufficient,” Niello said.
“Tell me how much you are spending and what your actual results are in terms of self-sufficiency.”
