San Benito County Homelessness Articles

Gov. Gavin Newsom’s big new experiment to push people with mental illness off the streets and into treatment starts this fall. Counties responsible for the rollout say it may end up being more modest than advertised.

By channeling funds to a number of nonprofits working on various issues in a given region, community foundations help solve big problems throughout California.

Renter protections and eviction bans put in place for the COVID-19 pandemic have expired. By keeping them in place, California could slow the spread of homelessness. But that's not happening.

Gov. Gavin Newsom wants to rethink how California spends its millionaires tax by directing more money toward housing. Some county-run mental health programs could lose out.

The homeless population fell by a third in Texas over the past decade as it surged in California. The cost of living is a big reason Texas is doing a better job at alleviating homelessness.

Los Angeles’ new homelessness solution is meant to quickly get people out of encampments and into housing—as the city grapples with the state’s largest population of unhoused residents. But the program is struggling to house people and connect them with …

Housing First policy works to reduce homelessness, evidence shows. But in California the policy has proven ineffective. What is the state doing wrong?

Gov. Gavin Newsom poured ‘unprecedented’ money into homelessness, but providers say his use of one-time grants does not allow for long-term solutions to the state’s biggest crisis. That's what happened in Grass Valley.

After weeks of negotiations, the governor and top Democrats in the Legislature say they have a budget deal. Legislators will start voting today on bills related to the agreement, which sets spending and policy across a wide range of issues …

The Gilroy City Council on June 19 finalized its approval of an ordinance that prohibits camping near schools, in Uvas Creek and other public right-of-ways. The ordinance passed at the council’s June 5 meeting, and was placed in the consent …

The Gilroy City Council approved an ordinance on June 5 that would prohibit camping near schools, in Uvas Creek and other public right-of-ways. However, some members of the public who spoke during the meeting said such a decision could put …

Local officials invite the public to a welcoming ceremony highlighting the completion of the San Benito County emergency shelter expansion project and renovation of the Migrant Center Homes. The ceremony will take place at 10am March 10 at 3235 Southside …

2022 was a year that needed a lot of explaining. And California Local was there. Here are our 10 most important explanatory journalism stories from the year gone by, from immigration to cryptocurrency to wealth inequality and more.

New laws banning toxicity testing on dogs and cats, and making rental housing more pet friendly are among a slate of new animal welfare legislation signed by Gov. Newsom in September.

San Benito County’s homeless population has increased by 26%–or 75 people–since 2019. Much of this increase is reportedly linked to ongoing challenges related to the Covid-19 pandemic, and county officials say there would be even more homeless residents without the …

The Board of the Coalition of Homeless Service Providers for Monterey and San Benito Counties (CHSP) announced that Genevieve Lucas-Conwell is the new incoming Executive Director of the Coalition. Joining CHSP from the Bay Area, Lucas-Conwell has served alongside the …

The links between homelessness and crime are complex, and the idea that unhoused individuals present a danger to their community seems to be exaggerated.

Gov. Newsom and the state legislature should consider allocating $40 billion of the state's $97 billion surplus to subsidize the building of low-income housing.

Special to the Free Lance San Benito County officials and property owners continue to seek more funding to provide more services for local homeless people, and to reduce the unhoused population.  The San Benito County Board of Supervisors discussed some …

How the California mental health crisis emerged out of the state’s history of deinstitutionalization and laws designed to protect the mentally ill, as well as the communities around them.