Homelessness

A homeless encampment along the riverbed in San Diego on March 23, 2024. Photo by Kristian Carreon for CalMatters

Homelessness

California leaders take sides in monumental Supreme Court case on homelessness

The U.S. Supreme Court is about to hear a case that will have major implications on homelessness policy in California. Find out where your leaders stand on the issue.

By

Marisa Kendall

• April 18, 2024

An encampment is seen on the sidewalk near a freeway entrance in downtown San Diego on March 22, 2024. Unhoused individuals moved their belongings across the street and later came back after cleaning finished. Photo by Kristian Carreon for CalMatters

Homelessness

Democrats kill California homeless camp ban, again

A bill to ban homeless encampments statewide near parks, schools and transit hubs failed to get out of the same legislative committee as last year.

By

Marisa Kendall

• April 16, 2024

Homelessness

Backers of California homeless camp ban cite ‘successful’ San Diego law. But is it?

A new bill would make it illegal for homeless residents to camp in certain places, such as near schools, throughout California. Its authors say such a ban has had great success in San Diego. But a closer look at that city paints a more nuanced picture.

By

Marisa Kendall

• April 11, 2024

Homelessness

Meth, death and abuse: Inside the private security forces patrolling California’s homeless

Public agencies are funding private security guards in homeless shelters and on the street, opening a new front in the state’s housing crisis — one ripe for violence and civil rights issues, but thin on oversight.

By

Lauren Hepler

• April 10, 2024

A person walks by a homeless encampment in downtown Los Angeles on Nov. 18, 2022. Photo by Larry Valenzuela for CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Homelessness

California fails to track its homelessness spending or results, a new audit says

There’s so little data available, it’s impossible to even tell if several of California’s largest homelessness programs are working, according to a statewide audit released Tuesday.

By

Marisa Kendall

• April 9, 2024

Homelessness

The feds want to study giving cash to renters. Will Californians be included?

HUD wants to see what happens when you give cash directly to renters, instead of traditional vouchers. At least one California housing authority is interested.

By

Marisa Kendall

• March 22, 2024

Jeanne Gillis cooks ground turkey over a wood fire beside her trailer at Camp Resolution on Feb. 28, 2024. Residents must rely on bottled water, generators, and wood fires because no utilities are provided at the camp. Photo by Fred Greaves for CalMatters

Homelessness

Sacramento gave a homeless camp a lease as an experiment. Here’s what happened

Camp Resolution, a completely self-governed, city-sanctioned homeless encampment, was supposed to be a model Sacramento could copy for future sites. That didn’t happen, and now it’s under threat of prosecution.

By

Marisa Kendall

• March 11, 2024

Homelessness

This California county is testing AI’s ability to prevent homelessness

Machine learning predicts who will end up on the street, and then social workers step in and offer to help. It’s an experiment still in progress, but so far nearly 90% of participants kept their housing.

By

Marisa Kendall

• March 6, 2024

A man starts a fire in his makeshift tent along a barbed wire fence near Highway 99 in southwest Fresno on Feb. 11, 2022. The fence blocks out a grass area that used to be a homeless encampment. Photo by Larry Valenzuela for CalMatters.

Homelessness

It’s now significantly more deadly to be homeless. Why are so many people dying?

The mortality rate for unhoused Americans more than tripled in 10 years. New data makes clear lives are at stake as California leaders try to combat the homelessness crisis.

By

Marisa Kendall

• February 29, 2024

Patient Steven Dombrowski “Cowboy” speaking with Physician assistant Brett Feldman in his hotel room at the L.A. Grand Hotel on Feb. 13, 2023. The hotel was turned into an emergency shelter for unhoused people. Photo by Larry Valenzuela, CalMatters/CatchLight Local

Homelessness

Feds leave California on the hook for $300 million in COVID homeless spending

When Gov. Gavin Newsom launched his landmark effort to shelter homeless residents in hotels during COVID, the state and local governments were relying on FEMA to foot much of the bill. Now, they’re on the hook for $300 million.

By

Marisa Kendall

• February 9, 2024