By Vanguard Staff
SACRAMENTO – As Gov. Gavin Newsom highlights reductions in homelessness across California, local leaders are warning that the state risks undermining those very gains unless lawmakers move quickly to restore critical funding before the legislative session ends in just a few weeks.
“The governor correctly points to successes thanks to hard work from local government staff on the ground,” said Inyo County Supervisor and California State Association of Counties (CSAC) President Jeff Griffiths. “But gutting the state’s most successful program in reducing homelessness risks sabotaging the very efforts that are working. So we’re making crystal clear what we need to prevent state-induced failure.”
The concern centers on the state’s Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) program, which has provided counties and cities with flexible dollars to address housing instability since 2019. The program has been credited by local governments with allowing them to expand shelter space, provide rental assistance, support outreach workers, and stabilize permanent housing. But this year’s budget eliminated HHAP funding altogether for 2025-26 and earmarked just $500 million for 2026-27—half of the previous amount and not guaranteed.
Over the last several years, HHAP has been one of the state’s most significant homelessness programs. Allocations have ranged from $650 million in 2019-20 to $1 billion per year between 2021 and 2024. Local leaders say the sudden zeroing out of funds threatens to destabilize systems they have painstakingly built up.
A coalition of statewide and regional groups, including CSAC, the League of California Cities, the Big City Mayors coalition, and the Bring California Home coalition, submitted a joint letter to the governor and legislative leaders this week urging action. The groups called for lawmakers to use a pending budget “trailer bill” to ensure Round 7 of HHAP is distributed in a way that avoids interruptions in local homelessness services.
“This process would maintain accountability while reducing the lengthy application process (which currently takes six months),” the letter stated. “It would ensure funds are deployed more quickly and prevent uncertainty and gaps in funding.”
The letter urged state leaders to distribute Round 7 funding in a single tranche rather than partial disbursements, which can drag on for months or years. Local governments reported that while HHAP Round 6 was appropriated in June 2024, grantees do not expect to receive their first 50 percent disbursement until 2026—nearly two years later. Such delays, they warned, force counties and cities to gamble on subgrants without knowing when or whether the state will send the money.
“Without a reliable, quicker HHAP Round 7 disbursement, many local jurisdictions will ramp down HHAP-funded services,” the letter added. “Impacting service provider staffing and disrupting each region’s rehousing systems, at a time of great budget and political uncertainty.”
The coalition also recommended that the Department of Housing and Community Development release the HHAP Round 7 application early in 2026 and begin disbursement by September of that year. They argued that issuing the full allocation in one round would give localities the certainty needed to commit to contracts and sustain staffing.
Beyond timing, the groups expressed concern about new requirements included in SB 131, the legislation authorizing Round 7. These provisions require jurisdictions to meet several benchmarks, including obligating at least 50 percent of Round 6 funds, having a compliant housing element, enacting a local encampment policy, receiving a pro-housing designation, leveraging local resources, and demonstrating measurable progress on housing metrics.
While supportive of accountability, the coalition warned that layering on additional hurdles will bog down the process and leave communities without resources. They noted that many of the new requirements, such as achieving a pro-housing designation, involve lengthy state approval processes that cannot be completed in time to meet the funding deadlines.
Because jurisdictions could not have anticipated these new conditions, the groups urged lawmakers to allow applicants to demonstrate they are on a path toward meeting them, rather than blocking funding altogether. They also emphasized that funding should remain in the region and not be redirected if a jurisdiction falls short of a condition.
“Households experiencing homelessness should not lose access to vital programs and services because a jurisdiction is unable to comply with a Round 7 condition,” the letter stated.
Meanwhile, Newsom has been highlighting the progress California has made in reducing homelessness.
His office this week highlighted preliminary point-in-time count data from across the state showing decreases in unsheltered or total homelessness in multiple communities.
Los Angeles County reported a 9.5 percent drop in unsheltered homelessness, the City of Los Angeles a 7.9 percent drop, San Diego a 6.6 percent decrease in total homelessness, San Diego City a 13.5 percent decrease, Riverside County a 19 percent decrease in unsheltered homelessness, and Contra Costa County a 25.5 percent decrease in total homelessness.
Other counties, including Sonoma, Ventura, Santa Cruz, and Kings, also reported reductions ranging from 15 to 26 percent (Governor’s Office).
Newsom attributed these results to a comprehensive approach that includes expanding behavioral health treatment beds, updating conservatorship laws, creating CARE Courts, streamlining housing production, and directing local governments to address encampments. He pointed to Proposition 1, the $6.4 billion behavioral health bond approved by voters in 2024, as a transformative investment.
From the administration’s perspective, these measures represent progress in reversing decades of inaction. Between 2014 and 2019, before Newsom took office, unsheltered homelessness rose by approximately 37,000 people. Since then, the state has slowed that growth dramatically, even as homelessness rose in other states. In 2024, homelessness increased nationally by more than 18 percent, but California held its increase to just 3 percent. The state also achieved the nation’s largest reduction in veteran homelessness and made progress in reducing youth homelessness.
Local leaders agree that progress has been made but argue that it will evaporate without consistent HHAP funding. They say the sudden withdrawal of support threatens to unravel years of coordinated work among counties, cities, and service providers. Rental assistance, shelter operations, and permanent housing projects could collapse this fall if the Legislature fails to act, they warn.
The coalition’s letter stressed that HHAP has already demonstrated results and remains the single most effective state program in addressing homelessness. By cutting it, they argued, the state is effectively sabotaging its own success.
With lawmakers scheduled to adjourn in early September, the fate of HHAP Round 7 funding rests on negotiations over the trailer bill. Advocates say this will be one of the most consequential debates of the session. They insist that California cannot afford to let its progress on homelessness slip away just as communities are finally beginning to see reductions.
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“Meanwhile, Newsom has been highlighting the progress California has made in reducing homelessness.”
Like in San Francisco? Long after he left? LONG after he left. And he LEFT. Far Left.
Davis, not so much . . .
And I don’t really know WHAT he is talking about, as he didn’t define “homelessness”. I am talking about visible street people. What are you talkin’ about, GAVVY ?