Workers clear a homeless encampment on Monday, October 4, 2021, in Berkeley, California.
David Paul Morris | David Paul Morris Bloomberg | Getty Images
California local officials and advocates divided on issue Governor Gavin Newsom’s recent executive orders Requiring state agencies to dismantle homeless encampments on public property leaves homeless communities in limbo, unsure of where they will go.
June, Supreme Court ruling Punishing homeless people for sleeping on public property does not violate the Eighth Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. According to an assessment provided to Congress last year by the Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentThere are approximately 180,000 homeless people across the state, making California one of the states with the highest homeless population in the country, along with New York, Florida and Washington state.
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for Addressing rising homelessnessNewsom, Democrat, order state agencies Adopts plans to dismantle homeless encampments across the state — one of the most immediate responses to the Supreme Court decision, and other states may soon follow suit.
While local governments are not forced to comply, Newsom said at a news conference Thursday that he would withhold funding from cities and counties that don’t clean up encampments next year.
Newsom noted that his administration has invested billions of dollars in multiple state agencies to provide services to the homeless, including more than $9 billion in programs designed to help local governments move them from encampments to housing. plan. He said these investments, along with new powers given to cities by the Supreme Court, will provide the tools needed to enforce the order.
“No more excuses” Newsom said in a July 25 post “We’ve provided time. We’ve provided funding. Now it’s time for locals to do their job.”
But members of the homeless community say they have nowhere to go.
“It’s absolutely chaotic and crazy,” said Jeni Shurley, a member of Los Angeles’ homeless community.
She added: “Honestly, I felt like I needed to leave the country because I was desperately searching the entire country, literally from coast to coast, to try to find some kind of solution.”
Shuley, 48, said she has been homeless for a decade, working a series of temporary and itinerant jobs in one location or another in Oregon, Colorado, Louisiana, Missouri, Washington, D.C. and now California , while also suffering serious health problems.
After Newsom announced his executive order on July 25, Shirley said she considered moving to another state because she didn’t want to be criminalized for being homeless.
“I’ve done everything I could and every program that was offered,” she said. “I’ve started doing this, but I’m not getting any help I need. I feel like I’m just a stone in a river full of money, and I can’t touch a dollar in it.”
Last year, the state had about 71,000 shelter beds available, less than half of the more than 180,000 beds needed for homeless shelters in the state. California Public Policy Institutea nonprofit, nonpartisan think tank, cited the HUD report. That shortage makes Newsom’s order more challenging for localities.
Homeless shelters across the state will have to expand services to accommodate the influx of people on the streets, but many say they don’t have enough resources, even with state investment.
Mission Action, which provides emergency shelter and supports homeless people in San Francisco’s Mission District, said in a statement to NBC News that they are concerned the city does not have enough emergency shelter beds. Used by people living in the camp.
The organization said its 91-bed adult emergency shelter was full before the order was announced, while another 80-bed family shelter had only four beds remaining.
“If the city is unable to provide emergency shelter to those who need and want shelter, then we are essentially moving towards homelessness,” Laura Valdez, the organization’s executive director, said in a statement. Attributable conduct is criminalized.
On March 24, 2021, activists including homeless service organizations, homeless residents and a coalition of advocates rallied at the start of a 24-hour vigil to stop the planned closure of Echo Lake Park in Los Angeles, California. The city will begin a $500,000 cleanup and restoration effort early March 25 at the homeless encampment.
Frederic J. Brown | Frederic J. Brown AFP | Getty Images
However, a spokesman for Newsom told NBC News that concerns about resources are misplaced.
“Local governments have received adequate funding to help address this issue within their communities,” said Tara Gallegos, Newsom’s deputy communications director. She echoed the governor’s statement that there is no reason for communities to ignore encampments.
With shelters in the San Francisco area still nearly full, Mayor London Breed announced a directive earlier this month to provide homeless people with relocation support, including bus passes, to help them move elsewhere. Breed’s office said she has increased the number of shelter beds by more than 60% during her tenure, but shelters across the city continue to fill up rapidly as the city’s homeless population grows. san francisco There are about 8,000 homeless people ——The second most in the state Los Angeles, about 75,000.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors passed a motion that said people removed from the encampments would not be sent to jail, although they could be subject to penalties or citations for not complying with Newsom’s order.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, a Republican, said: “In my opinion, just having law enforcement do school sweeps doesn’t lead to permanent and lasting results. It just moves the problem around, and that’s why My constituents want permanent results.
For Barger, the permanent solution is housing, but the question remains whether cities can provide it.
Newsom’s order is an extension of work already done in Los Angeles to dismantle encampments but adds additional coordination among state agencies, she said. Barger added that the city is working to maintain the trust of the homeless community while working to dismantle the encampments.
Other officials praised Newsom for addressing encampment issues through executive orders.
Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg, a Democrat, said the governor’s efforts to address mental health and homelessness are unlike anything he has seen in the past 30 years.
In 2004, as a state senator, Steinberg authored a bill to tax the wealthy to help provide mental health services to the homeless and others. The measure, later approved by voters as a ballot initiative, would impose a 1% tax on personal income above $1 million to fund such services across the state. But it does not provide direct funding for homeless shelters, essential funding that advocates and shelters say they lack under Newsom’s order.
Despite concerns about resources, Steinberg said the governor’s order reflects what Sacramento has been trying to achieve for years.
“People living in these large encampments, it’s not safe and it’s not healthy for them or our community,” he said.
He said his city is trying to combine “compassion and enforcement with aggressive efforts to get more beds, more services and permanent housing for people.”
last year, Homeless population in city reduced by 29% Steinberg said this is due to its commitment to addressing health and safety concerns throughout the community compared to last year. Although Sacramento has a smaller population than Los Angeles and San Francisco, the city’s homeless population has also dropped by 49%, one of the largest declines in the state.
Still, Steinberg said they weren’t celebrating the victory given the number of people living on the streets. He said the order was “a step in the right direction.”
“We just need to keep giving people more options, and people need to be willing to accept them,” Steinberg said. “But it’s not perfect and I will continue to argue and push in my city to make sure we have something for as many people as possible.”
