California’s leading Democratic gubernatorial candidates articulated distinct approaches to the state’s escalating housing crisis during a recent forum. The discussions, moderated by New York Times columnist Ezra Klein, revealed both areas of consensus and significant policy divergences within the party, particularly concerning labor standards, local control, financing, and homelessness.
The Cicero Institute, a well-funded think tank, is behind a coordinated policy effort that has led to 22 states considering or enacting laws that increase penalties on people experiencing homelessness, while California is pursuing alternative approaches that prioritize access to services.
Santa Clara County’s homelessness prevention program has been successful in reducing the number of people who become homeless, and is being expanded to 10 other communities across the country with the help of Destination: Home.
A coalition of criminal justice reform advocates and policy organizations is urging California gubernatorial candidates to adopt a platform centered on prevention, housing and community-based care, arguing that voters are increasingly rejecting punitive approaches to public safety.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has been criticized for failing to address the state’s rising rents and homelessness crisis, as well as for siding with corporate landlords and opposing rent control measures.
Supportive housing, which combines affordable housing with on-site services, is the most cost-effective and effective way to reduce unsheltered homelessness, as it addresses the root cause of the issue and reduces public costs associated with emergency and institutional settings.
The Trump administration is attempting to redistribute billions of dollars in federal homelessness aid away from Housing First, a policy approach that has been proven to be effective at getting people housed, and towards treatment-first models, despite a lack of evidence demonstrating their effectiveness.
The American Psychological Association has warned that a new Trump administration executive order on homelessness could have serious consequences for mental health care, increase criminalization of vulnerable people and roll back decades of progress in evidence-based treatment.