California Governor’s New Homeless Initiative

The Governor announced today his new initiative to end homelessness. Here is the fact sheet they released:
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The funds will help develop and implement new and innovative programs to address the needs of some of the most vulnerable Californians – homeless individuals suffering from serious mental health illness and related disabilities. The funding focuses on creation of permanent housing that includes support services for residents. The Initiative creates a multi-agency committee to provide a simple, one-stop approval process for funding requests.

The Governor’s Initiative to End Long-Term Homelessness includes:

Funding:
• Up to $40 million in Proposition 46 funds to leverage private sector resources to produce 400 to 500 new supportive housing units.
• Funding provided under Proposition 63, the Mental Health Services Act to be used for services and support of ongoing operations at housing communities.
• $10 million from the California Housing Financing Agency from its Housing Assistance Trust to provide liquidity to community based lending organizations developing housing for the long-term homeless. This will be used for purchasing loans, thereby freeing up capital for greater leveraging for new units.
• $750,000 in Proposition 63 dollars allocated to the Department of Housing and Community Development to be used for predevelopment costs such as permitting, engineering costs, site development and environmental reports.
• $125,000 in State General Fund dollars to fund an inter-agency council comprised of: state and federal agencies and departments; local social service, health, law enforcement and other local agencies; local elected officials; non-governmental providers of services to the homeless; homeless advocates; and the philanthropic community, to coordinate efforts to combat long-term homelessness and maximize the use of resources.

Goals:
• Leverage Proposition 46 funds, in conjunction with tax credits and locality funds, to build approximately 400 to 500 new units of permanent housing.
• Support the cost of ongoing services through Proposition 63 funding to ensure these tenants receive the services they require to keep them off the street.
• Coordinate federal, state, local, non-profit and private sector efforts to combat homelessness.