Sacramento County Homelessness Digest

California voters this spring are considering a $6.4 billion bond to house people with serious mental health conditions. A similar 2018 ballot measure offers lessons about the obstacles that stand in the way of construction.

Sacramento Steps Forward still needs about 100 volunteers for its upcoming two-day Point-In-Time count, which documents how many are experiencing homelessness in Sacramento.

The former Capitol Park Hotel has reopened in downtown Sacramento with a spruced up appearance and a new purpose: as permanent supportive housing for formerly homeless residents.

Prop. 1 would funnel more money into housing and treatment for homeless Californians struggling with mental illness and addiction. But it’s far from a one-stop solution.

A multi-year, $750 million California program aimed at doing away with homeless encampments has had mixed results. Local leaders say ongoing funding is needed.

The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case related to whether cities and towns can ban camping on public property. The high court could overturn Martin v. Boise, a 2018 federal court decision that keeps western cities and counties from blocking public camping when sufficient shelter space is unavailable.

A former Best Western motel has reopened in downtown Sacramento after being converted into permanent housing for nearly 100 unhoused individuals.

María Vela’s family has lived in East L.A. nearly 30 years, but new owners of her duplex asked her family to vacate by Christmas. Most evictions are due to nonpayment of rent, but owner move-ins also cause family displacement.

Federal funding for domestic violence shelters and housing programs is declining. Advocates want the state to step in, but with a record projected deficit new spending is unlikely.

All but two California counties are delaying their implementation of a new law that makes it easier for a court to place someone in involuntary confinement if they can’t care for their own medical needs or personal safety.

Federal judge David O. Carter has declined to dismiss a lawsuit that could force the Veterans Administration to house veterans experiencing homelessness in the Los Angeles area. Carter’s 41-page ruling could pave the way for a trial in mid-2024.

Sacramento County’s second tiny home village, or Safe Stay Community, is set to welcome unhoused residents to South Sacramento starting next week.

Advocates for Sacramento’s unhoused community, along with mayoral candidate Flojaune Cofer, condemned County District Attorney Thien Ho for what they described as his unfair attacks on the city and its unhoused residents.

Organizers of Sacramento County’s next Point-In-Time Count say they need at least 500 volunteers to help survey the region’s homeless population in January. Survey results are used to determine state and federal funding for homeless services.

Sacramento County District Attorney Thien Ho is adding environmental violations to his lawsuit against the city of Sacramento over what he calls its failure to act regarding the homelessness crisis.

Aptly named the PAWS Clinic (Pet Aid and Wellness Services), the first-of-its-kind mobile veterinary clinic focuses on caring for pets owned by homeless residents.

Shortly after Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to deliver 350 tiny homes to Sacramento, local officials said the Cal Expo fairgrounds should house some of the cabin-sized shelters.

San Diego-area nonprofits and faith organizations struggle to provide for tens of thousands of migrants border agents have released on San Diego streets.

Officials say they’ll consider applying for some of the $300 million in homeless encampment funds made available this week by Governor Gavin Newsom.
But the program by itself won’t pay cities and counties to remove the vast tent communities that line streets and sidewalks across California.

Berkeley public works staff and police officers began closing the longstanding encampment along Seventh and Eighth streets in an “imminent health hazard and emergency abatement,” which was ordered to tackle safety concerns.

The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a safe parking program in North Highlands. Once it opens, county staff said up to 30 people at a time will be able to park at the site on Watt Avenue, with access to showers, restrooms and at least two meals a day.

Sacramento’s X Street homeless shelter opened two years ago this fall, serving the W-X corridor south of downtown, home to one of the city’s largest concentrations of illegal encampments. But while the shelter is making progress, it’s fallen short of its housing targets.

California’s population of homeless veterans has plateaued despite billions of dollars in state spending to create housing for former service members. Now, Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to shift resources to focus on veterans with serious mental health conditions.

The city of Sacramento has filed a motion asking the Sacramento County Superior Court to rule that a lawsuit filed by the district attorney is invalid and cannot proceed, according to a statement by the city.

Tiny homes are increasingly California cities’ shelter option of choice — but how far they go in solving homelessness is a contentious question.

Ten months after the city and county of Sacramento approved a homeless services partnership agreement, officials said they fulfilled one of its commitments: opening a new behavioral health center in the central city.

A piano sits in the middle of a room lined with posters welcoming visitors of the Creation District in Midtown.

Homeless members of the community, among whom Black Sacramentans are disproportionately represented, face daunting barriers to escaping life on the streets.

The planned relocation of the Elk Grove Library to another Old Town-Historic Downtown Elk Grove location has been halted. Instead, the City Council will select an independent nonprofit to operate the facility as a winter homeless shelter.

After suing to get permission to enter Miller Park Safeground, the Sacramento Homeless Union says it found “health and safety concerns” at the site for the unhoused people placed there by the city.

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s plan to overhaul how California counties pay for behavioral health care is one step closer to going before voters in March—over heavy opposition from patient advocates, service providers and local government officials.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants counties to spend some revenue from California’s so-called “millionaire’s tax” on the state’s homeless crisis. That alarms advocates for programs that are getting that money today.