Sharon Rapport

We are deeply disappointed by today’s Supreme Court decision to criminalize homelessness. Read from our CEO and President @ShaunDonovanNYC: bit.ly/3xF2jT4

“Are we doing this because it is the solution to homelessness, or are we doing it because our instincts are to punish people who are in poverty for their poverty?” @alexvisotzky 👏‼️ calmatters.org/housing/homele…

Solving homelessness and our housing challenge takes all of us, from policymakers to community members, to understand that our systems are working, but they've been under-resourced for so long that it takes time and intentionality to get us there.

As we wait to see what the final #cabudget negotiations, a reminder that only roughly 1% of all initially budgeted state spending has gone toward #housing and #homelessness since 2018. Majority of which has been one-time funding. This is not how we ensure everyone has a home 🧵

Housing is the solution to homelessness, not ticketing and arresting Californians because they cannot afford rent in the most expensive housing market in the nation. Thank you to Senators @Aishabbwahab @Scott_Wiener @NancySkinnerCA for voting NO on #SB1011!

Housing is a human right, and the solution to houselessness. SB 1011 would have criminalized and fined our unhoused neighbors with devastating consequences. Thank you to Senators @Aishabbwahab @Scott_Wiener @NancySkinnerCA for voting NO on #SB1011. calmatters.org/housing/homele…

@housingca CA must fund housing/services ongoing, at scale, before policymakers can expect to reverse trends in homelessness increases. @AB1657 @BringCAHome.

Our broad multi-sector coalition of 70+ affordable housing, homelessness, and housing justice advocates urges state leaders to maintain a sustained commitment to affordable housing and homelessness services, including identifying sources of long-term funding.

The Governor’s #budget, released yesterday, includes stark cuts to #housing and #homelessness solutions that will negatively impact tens of thousands of #California families and have rippling impacts on the state’s economic, public health, and social outcomes.

@housingca A sustained commitment, at scale, to housing and housing-based services is our only hope to reduce homelessness. Programs funding shelters are insufficient if people return to the streets because they cannot afford housing.

@MorganGodvin @KeithNHumphreys It does not ban recovery housing. Again, please check your facts.

@KeithNHumphreys Why does funding Housing First—which is evidence based—necessitate banning publicly-funded recovery housing? I don’t get why it becomes a dichotomy.

Recovery-focused housing, which is illegal for California government to fund, dramatically reduced substance use, unemployment, and incarceration in a 2-year randomized clinical trial. ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/full/10.21…

@KeithNHumphreys Please correct this misstatement & check overwhelming evidence supporting Housing First. SB 1380 required state-funded homeless programs to follow Housing First. If programs follow HF and people have choice between harm reduction & recovery homes, the State can fund.

We thank @CAgovernor & #CALeg for maintaining housing & homelessness commitments from last year; we now need ongoing investment to solve homelessness. A housing/homelessness coalition bit.ly/finalcabudget2… statement urges state leaders to next support AB 1657 and ACA 1.

@BringCAHome @CAgovernor Thank you @CAGovernor and the #CALeg for working hard to maintain funding for the HHAP program this year. Multi-year commitment for 2024-25 funding is also critical to promoting accountability. #ProtectOurProgress!

BCH is grateful that even in a deficit year, @CAGovernor and the #CALeg are maintaining significant budget commitments to solving homelessness. 1/

@BringCAHome These elements are all core to success in communities reducing homelessness. #AB799 is the only proposal developed by people with lived experience, advocates, CoC and local gov staff, & business leaders. Together, we can @BringCAHome through #CABudget TBL.

When we think about accountability for state $, we must include: 1) getting more folks permanently housed, 2) supporting the workers who provide housing + services, and 3) reversing past and present inequities. That’s all part of #AB799 and we hope to see it in #CABudget TBL. 7/7

Advancing equity means investing in solutions that work. It means being intentional about reducing disparities. And It means centering the voices of people with lived experience in leading our work to develop and evaluate solutions. 6/

Third, recent investment follows decades of disinvestment in affordable housing - which has systematically harmed Black, Indigenous, and increasingly Latinx communities in CA and drives them disproportionately into homelessness. 5/

Second, it ensures that we can invest in the workers who are on the ground supporting our unhoused neighbors, who themselves are at dire risk of becoming unhoused and burning out bc they don’t make a living wage and have unsustainable working conditions. rand.org/pubs/research_… 4

Why is sustained funding so impt? First, it enables our homeless response systems to build capacity, serve more people and achieve better outcomes. The solution to homelessness is housing + services, but it’s hard to fund permanent housing interventions with temporary funding. 3/

We’re especially excited that the #CALeg #CABudget goes even further with 2 years of funding and an additional $1B for the HHAP program. We know to achieve long-term progress, we need long-term investments in what works to solve homelessness. #ProtectOurProgress 2/