California Spends Billions on Homelessness with No Accountability, Says HHR

Housing Is A Human Right calls for stricter reporting requirements and better tracking to effectively address state’s escalating homelessness crisis

Housing Is A Human Right (HHR), an AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) housing initiative, released the following statement in response to the infuriating news that the state of California and its California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) are not tracking how billions of dollars are being spent on the homelessness crisis so there is no record of programs’ effectiveness or outcomes.

"The state consistently has been unable to track the effectiveness of homeless programs because they have, in fact, privatized homeless services to nonprofit organizations without quality control measures or proper report-back requirements,” stated Susie Shannon, Policy Director for Housing Is A Human Right. “This is an ongoing problem that could be rectified with better leadership to institute changes from state and local government to have stricter reporting requirements for grantees. According to a recent PPIC poll, homelessness is the number one issue in California. More than 181,000 people are without housing. It is in the interest of state lawmakers to ensure that money is being spent in the most effective way and they should focus on permanent housing which is the most tangible solution and gets to the heart of the problem. Without proper tracking, that's never going to happen."

About Housing Is A Human Right

Housing Is A Human Right (HHR) is the housing advocacy division of AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF). Together with AHF’s Healthy Housing Foundation (HHF, AHF’s direct housing provider), HHR and HHF advocate for and use a multi-pronged, community-based approach known as the “3 Ps” to address affordable housing and prevent homelessness. The 3Ps include protecting tenants to prevent gentrification, preserving existing affordable housing and producing new affordable housing units.

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