How Gavin Newsom’s California made homelessness worse |
California has about 12 percent of the U.S. population, but about 45 percent of the country’s unsheltered homeless population, at about 116,000 individuals.
That is down from 124,000 in 2024, but up 7% from 2019, when Gavin Newsom took office as governor.
The total number of homeless people, including those in shelters, was over 187,000 statewide as of 2024.
Since 2019, the state has poured nearly $37 billion into programs aimed at helping people get off the streets.
That generous sum works out to almost $200,000 per homeless person, reflecting what Sacramento calls “compassion” — and what everyone else would call a $37 billion fiasco.
But what have the state’s residents received in return for this spending?
Unfortunately, no one knows — because the state does not track where the money goes.
Three independent audits have reached the same conclusion: California simply does not know if its billions in spending on homelessness do any good.
The state auditor found that “the State lacks current information on the ongoing costs and outcomes of its homelessness programs.”
Federal auditors concluded that the California Housing and Community Development department “was not adequately prepared to prevent, detect,........