Where California’s homeless population is decreasing

From CalMatters homelessness reporter Marisa Kendall:

Homelessness continues to be a major issue in California, but some places are reporting decreases in their populations.

Santa Cruz County is the latest: It counted 1,473 people this year, down 20% from 2024. But despite that sign of progress, the number of “chronically homeless” people increased — suggesting the county still struggles to house that high-needs population. That category refers to people who have been homeless a year or more and have a disability.

Homelessness dropped 4% in Los Angeles County from last year, marking the second year in a row the county saw a decline. Contra Costa County saw a 26% decrease. Santa Clara County, meanwhile, saw an 8% increase from 2023 (Santa Clara County counts every other year).

Those numbers come from “point-in-time” counts conducted at the start of the year. Results have been rolling in all summer. Experts caution that those counts are estimates, at best, and likely undercount homeless populations. 

Gov. Gavin Newsom was quick to take credit last month as early reports came in showing decreases that his office said happened through his “support of local government efforts and state investments.” He bragged again on Monday, saying California is “reversing decades of inaction on homelessness.”

But the California State Association of Counties was just as quick to accuse Newsom of derailing that progress by slashing state funding in upcoming budget cycles. Though Newsom has poured money into the homelessness crisis, it’s been in one-time grants instead of ongoing funding, which counties complain makes it difficult to build the types of long-term programs that will create meaningful change for the state’s more than 187,000 unhoused people. 

Newsom allocated $1 billion in Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention funds last year, but cut that to $0 this year, while signaling an intent to allocate $500 million next year. 

The state Legislature on Monday unveiled the bill package it must pass to advance Newsom’s plan to redraw California’s congressional maps in response to Texas’ mid-cycle redistricting effort. The three bills relate to the new electoral boundaries; amending the state constitution to sidestep California’s independent redistricting commission through the end of 2030; and appropriating funds for the special election. 

Besides Democratic legislators scrambling to meet the proposed Nov. 4 date for the special election, state voting officials are hustling too, writes CalMatters’ Maya C. Miller. Described as a “Herculean effort” by one county registrar of voters, counties face hurdles including securing vendors to print ballots, booking sites for voting centers and hiring and training staff.

Because some counties are holding off-year elections this fall, adding the redistricting question to their existing ballot wouldn’t be a huge logistical lift, according to the governor. But the special election is still likely to cost most counties a lot of money up front, which the state has pledged to cover. Estimates from county officials range around the tens of millions of dollars, and Assembly Republicans estimate it would cost taxpayers more than $235 million total. 

Read more here.

From CalMatters reporters Cayla Mihalovich and Mikhail Zinshteyn:

Attorney General Rob Bonta on Monday filed California’s 39th lawsuit against President Donald Trump’s administration, challenging new immigration enforcement requirements it placed on federal funding for crime victims. 

States were set to receive $1.2 billion in federal crime victim funding this year with California expected to claim $165 million. But last month, the U.S. Justice Department’s Office of Victims for Crime announced that states must agree to support and assist the Department of Homeland Security with federal immigration enforcement in order to access those funds. 

The potential cut could be the second significant hit this year from the Trump administration to California programs that support crime victims. Earlier this year, the U.S. Justice Department slashed grants for violence prevention and victim service programs that were initially valued at $811 million. In California alone, the department cut just over $80 million.

• Bonta, at a press conference Monday: “Congress has never put civil immigration enforcement conditions on this funding because it has nothing to do with immigration. This is a brazen abuse of the president’s power.”

In July Congress finalized Trump’s $1.1 billion rescission from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, cutting grants to NPR, PBS and others. CalMatters’ Maya and video strategy director Robert Meeks have a video segment on why rural outlets are warning that this could lead to a loss of local news and emergency alerts as part of our partnership with PBS SoCal. Watch it here.

SoCalMatters airs at 5:58 p.m. weekdays on PBS SoCal.