Homelessness

Governor Gavin Newsom’s administration filed a lawsuit against the city of Elk Grove on Monday, claiming the city discriminated against low-income residents when it denied an affordable housing project last July.

California cities of every size lack shelter beds for the state’s growing homeless population. A new bill would force local governments to do more, and punish ones that don’t plan housing for homeless Californians.

Sporting a bright smile and the polished Super Bowl ring he won as a star NFL player in the late 1980s, Craig McEwen doesn’t fit the archetype of someone teetering on the brink of homelessness.

At the direction of a bipartisan group of state lawmakers, the state auditor will complete a detailed audit of spending on California homelessness programs. The number of unhoused has grown, even as spending has increased.

Democratic voters in California cities are pushing mayors and city councils to clear homeless camps. Leaders are responding with new ordinances, from Sacramento to San Diego.

Oregon’s largest urban areas will start receiving nearly $80 million to help residents out of homelessness by the end of the month, Gov. Tina Kotek announced Monday.

After the number of homeless students dropped during the early part of the pandemic, experts say the lack of affordable housing is fueling an increase that may continue to escalate.

Democratic leaders in California and Oregon are becoming more open to using involuntary psychiatric commitment to combat homelessness, drug abuse and untreated mental illness.

The money, approved early in the legislative session, will build more shelter beds, help prevent evictions, devote resources to rural counties and help homeless youth.

The Sacramento region could open more than 600 tiny homes for unhoused residents over the next year, including 350 promised by Governor Gavin Newsom last week, with the goal of moving people from illegal encampments to safe but temporary shelter.

Gov. Gavin Newsom, whose administration is struggling to contain a worsening homelessness crisis despite record spending, is trying something bold: tapping federal health care funding to cover rent for homeless people and those at risk of losing their housing.

Gov. Gavin Newsom starts defining his legacy on a four-day statewide tour that focuses on priorities interrupted by crisis and the COVID pandemic, including homelessness, criminal justice and health care.