Sacramento County Homelessness Digest

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.

Many of the Latin American migrants who arrived in Sacramento via Florida-chartered planes could soon be responsible for paying rent while they still cannot legally work. Sacramento ACT, a faith-based community organization, can only guarantee housing until Sept. 30.

A cabin-like home that closes and locks. Showers and restrooms onsite. Air-conditioning to survive the summer heat. These are some of the amenities at the county’s first “Safe Stay Community.”

Construction is under way at On Broadway, a new community in North Land Park that promises to add to Sacramento’s affordable housing stock and provide homes for people afflicted with serious mental illness.

Some Sacramento City Council members are putting forward proposals designed to prevent more people from becoming homeless. Councilmember Katie Valenzuela said, “We can't continue to focus just on triaging our homelessness crisis.”

Many local governments see voter majorities approve bond measures without reaching the two-thirds required. A new effort to reform that system would drastically improve the ability of local governments to fund housing and infrastructure projects.

One day after a federal judge ordered Sacramento to pause clearing homeless encampments, the city and the homeless union said they will try to work out some of their differences.

Despite efforts by Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass to shelter more than 14,000 people this year, the city's homeless population keeps growing. That does not necessarily mean her signature program is failing. The larger question: How does California measure success?

Residents have begun moving in at a new supportive housing complex on Sunrise Boulevard, with several formerly homeless residents saying they are thankful for the opportunity.

The lack of enough places for everyone to live has sent coastal rent prices inland, removing large swaths of previously cheaper rental units.

Older adults make up the fastest-growing share of California’s homeless population. To meet their needs locally, Sacramento County opened Nottoli Place, a small shelter for adults ages 60 and up.

Fed up with what he says is inaction by the city to address Sacramento’s homeless problem, District Attorney Thien Ho said he is launching an investigation that could lead to criminal or civil filings against city officials.

Miller Park in Sacramento will again serve as a sanctioned camping site for people experiencing homelessness, seven months after wind and rain storms forced city officials to close it.

California’s more than 170,000 unhoused people often lack the means and mobility to locate and visit a doctor who will accept them. At least 25 street medicine teams throughout the state are trying to fill that gap by providing health care to unhoused individuals in need.

More than 100 people living on the streets of Citrus Heights were contacted during a recent survey conducted by police.

State lawmakers have introduced a bill to create an entirely new entity to handle Sacramento’s growing homeless crisis. The effort was in response to a civil grand jury report that recommended a countywide joint powers authority.

In recent years, city-funded “Navigators” have been credited with helping connect homeless in Citrus Heights with housing and support.

Destiny Christian Church, the Rocklin-based megachurch led by controversial Pastor Greg Fairrington, will be taking over leadership of Sacramento’s Capital Christian Center and Capital Christian School after years of “destabilization.”

City Manager Ash Feeney told a neighborhood group last week that city staff are working “daily” to find another nonprofit to fill the role of Sacramento Self Help Housing, which Citrus Heights contracted with to provide “navigators” for residents experiencing homelessness.

The Biden-Harris administration announced the launch of ALL INside, an initiative designed to address homelessness across the country. The U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness and its 19 participating federal member agencies will partner with state and local governments in Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Phoenix Metro, Seattle, and California to implement the program.

Sacramento’s homeless crisis has grown rapidly, and in July it hit a grim milestone—more homeless people than San Francisco. A count in February 2022 found that there are an estimated 9,930 homeless people in Sacramento on any given night.