Santa Clara County Homelessness Articles

A new bill would make it illegal for homeless residents to camp in certain places, such as near schools, throughout California. Its authors say such a ban has had great success in San Diego. But a closer look at that …

San Jose has until September to formulate a succinct plan on how it will address homelessness and begin publicly reporting spending data, according to an audit requested by a local legislator.
The California State Auditor has published its findings and …

Two San Jose councilmembers have an ambitious plan to house thousands of the city's homeless residents — but some of their colleagues say it will move the city backwards.
Councilmembers Bien Doan and Arjun Batra have proposed a pilot program …

One of Santa Clara County’s largest homeless service providers is stepping back from operating a 145-bed shelter in North County.
HomeFirst will stop operating the North County Shelter in Sunnyvale by the end of June, passing shelter operations to another …

San Jose officials have a daunting task of balancing the budget as they attempt to preserve city services with a $52.1 million shortfall.
The San Jose City Council unanimously approved Mayor Matt Mahan’s March budget message on Tuesday, but not …

Los Gatos Council last night approved $60,000 for homeless services next year—$10,000 more than staff had requested—citing the effectiveness of the pilot year’s efforts.

Santa Clara County officials may help finance San Jose’s multimillion-dollar safe parking efforts and set up more sites on unused public property for the region's homeless residents.
The Board of Supervisors unanimously agreed on Tuesday to look into both possibilities …

A development site for homeless residents in South San Jose is blanketed in blue tarps to get rid of mold from months of neglect.
After San José Spotlight broke the story on Sunday about pre-built homes arriving unfinished and in …

A multimillion-dollar project to put homeless people in pre-built housing — that San Jose officials championed as cheap and revolutionary — is delayed due to homes arriving unfinished.
The $70-million three-story modular housing project that San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan …

About 40 homeless people are tucked away on a small parcel of land adjacent to busy Highway 237.
The encampment sits on the same location where Microsoft plans to construct two data centers in San Jose near the Milpitas border. …

Sunnyvale officials are prioritizing what local issues they'll tackle this year, and topics like homelessness and transit safety are topping the list.
The Sunnyvale City Council ranked its priority projects out of the 40 proposed on Feb. 15, signaling what …

For every one Santa Clara County household that was housed in 2023, nearly two households became homeless, a recent report reveals.
Approximately 4,297 new households experienced homelessness for the first time last year, according to the county’s year-end analysis of …

Sunnyvale is going back to the market for homeless service providers as officials press the existing partner for results.
The Sunnyvale City Council on Tuesday unanimously approved a six-month contract extension to nonprofit homeless provider HomeFirst, totaling $206,710. During that …

A once-groundbreaking nonprofit working with chronically homeless people in California’s capital closed and filed for bankruptcy in 2023.

In San Mateo County, a new law allows police to charge homeless people with criminal offenses if they don’t accept shelter. SCOTUS will soon weigh in with a potential landmark decision in an Oregon case.

Shangri-La Construction took loans against state-funded housing projects, moved money into other bank accounts and left projects unfinished.

The state has chosen who will build the 1,200 tiny homes Gov. Gavin Newsom promised the state’s homeless residents. But it remains to be seen when they will be built. Nearly a year ago, Gov. Gavin Newsom promised to deploy …

The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a case that has implications for how much power California officials have over homeless camps.

San Francisco provides all tenants facing eviction access to an attorney. Across the Bay, in Contra Costa County, it’s a different story. Two tenants’ stories show the difference a lawyer can make.

California lawmakers made an effort in 2023 to remove red tape around new affordable houses, but obstacles such as high interest rates, sluggish local approval processes and a shortage of skilled construction workers remain.