Sacramento County Homelessness Digest

Now in his third year as Sacramento County Sheriff, Jim Cooper shares his perspectives on a number of topics, including Proposition 36, mental health policies and area homelessness.

State lawmakers will debate a bill to require annual inspections, new complaint processes and harsher penalties for local governments that don’t file mandatory reports.

The Fremont city council has revised a new city camping ordinance, removing what had become a controversial clause — first reported on by CalMatters — that could have punished those  “aiding and abetting” encampments.

This appears to be the first such injunction since the U.S. Supreme Court let cities crack down on homeless encampments in California and beyond.

RED MEANS FAILURE, green means progress. Gov. Gavin Newsom introduced a new tracker tool this week that shows how local agencies are using state funds to eradicate homelessness and rates their success. The concept is to pool data on grants and reporting so counties can watch other counties; the public can watch state spending; and the governor can make the argument for granting or cutting funds.

It’s been eight months since the U.S. Supreme Court fundamentally changed how cities in California and beyond can respond to homeless encampments, allowing them to clear camps and arrest people for sleeping outside — even when there’s nowhere else to sleep.

Read on for details about the nationwide release of 'No Address," a film shot in Sacramento about a group of individuals that fall into homelessness.

California voters overwhelmingly approved Proposition 36, a new law that stiffened penalties for certain drug and theft charges, and pledged to provide “mass treatment” for those facing drug charges.

But since the law took effect, some counties have been scrambling to implement the measure without new funding or, according to people involved in enforcing the law, sufficient resources.

Shelters have become California’s go-to solution for homelessness. A CalMatters investigation finds the vast majority of residents stay homeless.

Read on to learn more about the February 19 clearing of a homeless camp in North Sacramento near the site of the former Camp Resolution, displacing dozens.

Outreach workers in the Bay Area city of Fremont worry the new ordinance could target them, despite assurances from the city.

Read on to learn how a $5.85 million state grant is funding a City of Sacramento pilot program to place up to 100 encampment households into apartments.

The unusual move is alarming activists who worry they could be in the ordinance’s crosshairs.

Read on to learn more about the Street to Housing pilot program launched by the City of Sacramento with a goal of transitioning unhoused individuals into housing.

Jennielynn Holmes stood in the middle of a make-shift evacuation center when the scope of the crisis hit her.

Gov. Newsom launched an ambitious program that uses Medi-Cal to help Californians access housing, healthy food and more. Now, its fate is in the hands of President-Elect Trump.

A week after Sacramento County initiate its CARE Court, petitions have been filed for the first three people to be considered under the new program. Read on to learn more about the CARE Court system.

Many California cities offer their homeless residents one-way bus tickets to other places.

Despite a decrease of 15% compared to the last count in 2022, the number of homeless veterans in Sacramento County remains high.

In their November 5 meeting, the Sacramento County Board of Supervisors approved an amendment to and ordinance, allowing sheriff's deputies and park rangers to clear homeless camps without first offering a shelter bed.

Homeless Californians face many barriers to casting a ballot, even in elections that affect their lives. Some counties and nonprofits are trying to boost turnout.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors is considering policy changes to allow sheriff deputies and park rangers to clear homeless encampments without first securing shelter beds.

Multiple state agencies spent nearly $24 billion on housing and homeless programs in the first five years of Gavin Newsom’s governorship, but the number of people without homes continued to grow, rising by 20% to more than 180,000 in the most recent federal count in 2023.

On October 4, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced
the awarding of $18.2 million in funds to help the city address homelessness.

A look at how the two candidates for Sacramento mayor would address homelessness.

Homeless service providers are scaling back and taking out loans as they wait for late payments from the government.

In their September 25 meeting, the Citrus Heights City Council heard public comment against bans on sleeping in cars before voting to proceed with revisions to ban camping in public spaces and cars.

Solving Sacramento looks at the use of interim housing as a scalable means addressing the needs of the unhoused.

Over the last five years, the state government has spent some $24 billion to ameliorate homelessness, which, according to polls, is California’s most troublesome issue.

Failed legislative bills have attempted to create safe parking programs for students to sleep in their cars on California campuses while awaiting housing. Meanwhile, Long Beach City College allows homeless students to park overnight.

A Solving Sacramento report on the September 7 Solidarity Summit on Homelessness.

The City of Elk Grove held a public meeting on September 12 about plans to open a year-round homeless shelter.