Santa Clara County Homelessness Articles

San Jose is transferring ownership of a former motel rife with issues to the Santa Clara County Housing Authority, with plans to convert it from temporary homeless housing to permanent apartments.
The City Council approved finalizing the sale Tuesday for …

San Jose’s first safe sleeping site for homeless residents was supposed to open in March, but has been delayed by months.
The city is converting a vacant lot at 1157 E. Taylor St. near Watson Park to allow up to …

San Jose has been clearing homeless encampments along city waterways, and is looking to do the same for people living under freeways.
Mayor Matt Mahan is exploring a partnership with Caltrans to accelerate sweeps near freeways through state legislation and …

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan wants Santa Clara County to scale up shelter and health treatment options in response to the city's renewed crackdown on homelessness.
During Tuesday’s City Council discussion on Mayor Matt Mahan's 2025-26 March budget message, Councilmembers …

San Jose officials have signed off on the mayor's plan to reallocate a majority of funding meant for affordable housing and put it toward temporary homeless shelters.
The City Council voted 7- 4 in a contentious meeting Tuesday to accept …

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan is taking a hardline approach in his budget plan to get homeless people off the streets. Community advocates are calling it unjust.
Mahan's upcoming 2025-26 budget message proposes several ways to tackle homeless, including reallocating …

San Jose has problems with slumlords and now they have problems with vanlords.
City officials are targeting vanlords, individuals who they said prey on the homeless residents by renting them inoperable vehicles. Mayor Matt Mahan along with Councilmembers Bien Doan, …

Less than a week after Mayor Matt Mahan announced a bold push to arrest homeless people who refuse help, disturbing videos show San Jose police officers beating and verbally taunting an elderly homeless man  leading to a complaint from the …

Last year’s initial budget projection featured an estimated $53 million shortfall. The new budget projection unveiled by Maguire this week showed a projected $46 million shortfall, the equivalent of about 3% of the city’s $1.6 billion spending plan.

San Jose homeless residents are at risk of being cited or arrested if they're caught sleeping or sitting on the sidewalk by early morning.
The City Council voted unanimously Tuesday to extend sidewalk sleeping and sitting restrictions two hours early …

San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan said he wants to see measurable improvements in homelessness and public safety before doling out pay raises for top city officials.
The announcement comes ahead of Mahan’s 2025-26 March budget message, set to be published …

The mayor of San Jose wants to penalize homeless people who refuse shelter by arresting or hospitalizing them, punting the service-resistant onto Santa Clara County for care.
Mayor Matt Mahan unveiled his “Responsibility to Shelter” initiative Thursday, where homeless people …

With cuts to federal staff and uncertainty over the federal budget looming, Santa Clara County agencies tasked with housing thousands of people are worried lifesaving services will be curtailed and homelessness will rise.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban …

Sunnyvale is trying a new approach to homeless encampment sweeps by putting people in motels and giving them an opportunity to make necessary life changes.
The city on Feb. 26 placed about 25 unhoused people in 18 rooms across two …

With San Jose’s second safe parking site opening, dozens of homeless people living in RVs have a place to land without fear of getting swept — and can be connected to services to help them get back on their feet. …

State funding could be the answer for a long-awaited affordable housing development to begin construction.
Santa Clara County is applying for up to $40.5 million in Project Homekey+ funding for the Algarve Apartments at 1135 E. Santa Clara St. next …

San Jose is launching a program to relocate and reunify homeless people with their families as the city strives to end unsheltered homelessness.
Homeward Bound, a pilot program proposed by Mayor Matt Mahan, will send outreach workers to make contact …

Amid a budget shortfall, San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan wants to move money allocated to affordable housing toward temporary housing solutions — indefinitely.
San Jose is facing a potential $60 million deficit for the upcoming 2025-26 fiscal year, due in …

With the number of vehicle dwellers on the rise, Palo Alto’s elected leaders are considering further expanding the Geng Road “safe parking” site, which provides spaces and social services for individuals and families who live in RVs.
The program, which …

San Jose's mayor is touting a plan to end unsheltered homelessness through temporary housing solutions, claiming it's 95% cheaper than building permanent affordable housing. But he's leaving out a crucial detail.
Mayor Matt Mahan wants to achieve "functional zero" — …