The city of San Diego is expected to receive about $25.8 million from the state to local homelessness services amid broad uncertainty about what funds the region can continue to rely on.
The money comes from California’s Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention program, which aids multiple cities, and will be used to keep existing programs afloat. Expanding what’s available would require council to boost the city’s homelessness budget at a time when San Diego faces a deficit worth hundreds of millions of dollars.
“This funding reaffirms California’s commitment to reducing homelessness,” Mayor Todd Gloria said in a statement. “Thanks to Governor Newsom and the State Legislature, cities continue expanding shelter capacity, street outreach, and getting people on the path to permanent housing.”
Homelessness countywide has grown almost every month for the past several years and the HHAP money is less than the nearly $30 million the city got during the last round of funding. Nonetheless, local officials are likely relieved to be getting anything at all as state lawmakers previously flirted with scrapping HHAP entirely while California wrestles with its own deficit.
As it stands, cities each year must go to Sacramento hat in hand, a process that advocates for homeless people say makes it difficult to plan long term. San Diego’s independent budget analyst has warned that the city’s been too reliant on outside grants — although the office noted last year that housing program money made up only around a tenth of homelessness spending, which was an improvement over earlier periods.
Further complicating the picture is President Donald Trump’s plan to slash large swaths of federal spending. Many details about how that effort might affect San Diego County remain unknown.
Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the newest funding at the same time the state launched www.ability.ca.gov, a website that summarizes some homelessness data from counties around California.
“No one in our nation should be without a place to call home,” Newsom said in a statement. “As we continue to our communities in addressing homelessness, we expect fast results, not excuses.”
San Diego officials said HHAP funding along with other money helped serve thousands of people last year, including nearly 2,700 who were connected to more permanent housing.
The County of San Diego is additionally receiving more than $12.1 million. The Regional Task Force on Homelessness is getting about $12.9 million. Both totals are decreases from the previous year.
