70% of LA County rooms for the homeless remain vacant: report
An investigation finds that after L.A. County spent more than half a $1 billion on apartments and hotels for the homeless, more than 70% of those rooms remain vacant. Westside Current report Jaime Page joined FOX 11 to talk about her exclusive reporting.
SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTTV) – California Gov. Gavin Newsom awarded more than $130 million to communities across the state in an effort to clear encampments and house the homeless.
The money is part of the state’s $1 billion Encampment Resolution Funds, which the state said has helped get nearly 21,000 people out of homelessness.
Several Southern California communities make up a good chunk of the newly-awarded $130 million, with the City of Los Angeles getting more than $11 million of that.
The deal requires local governments to adhere to stricter regulations, including compliance with the housing element law, otherwise the state could take the money back or revoke other awards.
“It’s important and urgent work that requires everyone to do their part,” Newsom said in a statement. “The state has committed more than $27 billion to help local governments tackle the homelessness crisis — and we want to see $27 billion worth of results.”
All this comes just a day after Newsom cut off state funding to the city of Norwalk after he found them in violation of state housing requirements. The city recently extended a moratorium on new construction of emergency shelters, single-room occupancy units, supportive housing and transitional housing. The moratorium will expire in August 2025.
Norwalk violating housing requirements: Newsom
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared Norwalk to be in violation of state housing requirements after the City Council enacted a moratorium on building new homeless shelters.
Friday’s announcement is the latest in Newsom’s recent moves to help combat homelessness. In July, Newsom signed an executive order to clear out homeless encampments, and threatened to withhold funding to local governments that wouldn’t.
The Governor also announced a new agreement that would help communities clear encampments, by allowing local governments to clear encampments on state property. The local governments would then get reimbursed for whatever the clearing costs.
A deal like that may prove useful in situations like encampments on the beach in Playa del Rey. Locals there told FOX 11 in August that encampments on the beach have expanded, and that there’s little enforcement because of jurisdictional confusion.
“Everyone’s pointing fingers at each other on who gets the responsibility to enforce and prohibit the encampments from forming on the beach,” Lucy Han said, back then.
Here’s a full breakdown of which cities and counties are getting the money:
- Sacramento: $18,199,661
- Riverside County: $12,612,779
- Los Angeles: $11,351,281
- San Bernardino County: $11,000,000
- Richmond: $9,336,746
- Petaluma: $8,098,978
- San Francisco: $7,975,486
- Antioch: $6,812,686
- Victorville: $6,365,070
- Contra Costa County: $5,708,516
- Berkeley: $5,395,537
- Redlands: $5,341,800
- Palm Springs: $5,106,731
- San Jose: $4,821,083
- Humboldt County – Continuum of Care: $3,784,294
- Visalia: $3,000,000
- Carlsbad: $2,994,225
- Pasadena – Continuum of Care: $2,772,801
This story was reported from Los Angeles.