Homelessness

Despite spending by Democrat lawmakers, California's homeless population kept growing over the last five years. The current approach of throwing money at the problem is clearly not working.

California’s population of homeless veterans has plateaued despite billions of dollars in state spending to create housing for former military service members. Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to shift the state’s resources to focus on veterans with serious mental health conditions.

To reach tens of thousands of people living in tent encampments, California must prioritize and focus the billions generated through the Mental Health Services Act. Proposition 1, going before voters in March, is a major step towards the original law's promise.

California can't solve homelessness without vastly improving the public mental health system. Without treatment and interventions, those with a serious mental illness deteriorate and lose housing.

The conditions surrounding homelessness in Texas and California are different, but Houston's success offers lessons. The first step requires setting aside individual priorities and committing to collective impact.

It's incredibly difficult for someone experiencing homelessness to regain housing in California. With consistent funding, equal distribution and stronger rental protections, it would be easier to keep people housed.

Decades of bad policy means it will take bigger, more expensive solutions to deliver the results on homelessness that struggling community members need and the public demands.

Tiny homes are increasingly California cities’ shelter option of choice — but how far they go in solving homelessness is a contentious question.

World Mental Health Day started bright and early Tuesday with Gov. Gavin Newsom announcing he has signed a key part of his overhaul of California’s mental health policy that will loosen rules about who is eligible for involuntary treatment. As CalMatters’ health reporter Jocelyn Wiener explains, under the new law, the legal definition of who […]

As California's homelessness crisis continues, its politicians are carping over who should be held responsible for resolving it.