SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Gov. Gavin Newsom reversed his decision to freeze $1 billion in homelessness prevention funding for counties and large cities after meeting with mayors in Sacramento Friday.
According to the Associated Press, Newsom agreed to release the funds if local governments step up the aggressiveness of their plans to reduce the number of California residents on the street.
Many mayors and county leaders at Friday's meeting with Newsom said his initial decision to pause the funds was unnecessary.
"To the extent that this caught many of us by surprise—that really can't be the way things operate going forward," San Diego Mayor Todd Gloria previously told ABC10. "A short pause means we have to pause our own efforts because we don't have the certainty of the funding being available."
City and county officials have until Nov. 29 to sign off on Newsom's recommendations for best use of homelessness prevention funds.
Recommendations leaders must pledge on include:
- Use of available land for supportive housing
- Growth of local partnerships
- Streamlined systems to track homelessness prevention progress
- Get closer with public housing authorities
"I think we're all on the same page," Mayor Darrell Steinberg told ABC10 Friday. "(Newsom) wants to see more aggressive numbers, and we're going to provide that. Part of the job of a chief executive is to provoke disruption."
Newsom said while the $1 billion in the third round of California Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) Grant funding is moving forward, criteria will be more stringent for the upcoming fourth round of funding.
