MTVAmerican Governments In California, there is currently a large homeless population. In the past years the number of homeless has increased, which is why it is an important issue. It is an issue that is constantly talked about in the media especially in state and local news. It is a critical issue in the state of California so much that officials have called it a crisis. The recent data reporting the number of those experiencing homelessness, on any given day in California, is 129,972 (U.S Department of Housing and Urban Development, 2018). Homelessness can be caused by lack of housing, lack of income to afford housing and other factors such as health problems (National Alliance to End Homelessness). Historically, the cost of housing in California did not directly affect homelessness. However in recent years the increase in rent and housing accounts for the rise in homelessness.
This issue is partly due to the cost of housing in California . The cost of rent and housing is high and on the rise and this impacts the number of homeless people. Affordable housing is less available forcing people to live in the streets and face bad living conditions. Even with the help of federal and state housing projects, rental assistance programs, and efforts to establish more affordable housing, the homelessness crisis continue. Homelessness mainly effects those over the age of 24, however the number of homeless youth, even of those enrolled in school is alarming. Males showed higher rates of homelessness and did people of the White race. In California about 34,000 of the reported homelessness, were experiencing chronic homelessness (U.S HUD). The state views homelessness as a serious problem. This year, Governor of California, Gavin Newsom, has dedicated 500 million dollars from the state budget to combat homelessness. Governors (Dillon, 2019). California state mayors, have pushed for more money to combat this issue locally. In Sacramento, Mayor Darrell Steinberg has strongly addressed homelessness by proposing temporary solutions such as new shelters. Others city officials do not agree with the amount of spending on homelessness due to the fact that no permanent solutions, like offering permanent housing, are resulting from the funding (Clift, 2019). Organizations are groups that are putting efforts towards reducing the number of homeless population in California. They believe that programs should be available to help the homeless and to provide the services which they need. Homelessness was not a main issue discussed in the presidential election. Presidential candidates chose to focus on other issues within the country.. The topic of affordable housing was however a topic of the presidential election. This issue was addressed by Hillary Clinton, however Donald Trump avoided making the issue a main priority. Homelessness was a main issue addressed in the California Governor election. Newly elected Governor Gavin Newsom has began efforts that would help the homeless. The recent 2018 California Governor election, where Gavin Newsom became Governor has impacted my issue. The governor has made addressing homelessness in California a priority. He has created a new commission named the commission on homelessness and supportive housing. This commission is led by the mayor of Sacramento Darrell Steinberg. Locally, aside from his new position, the fairly new mayor of Sacramento Darrell Steinberg has impacted the issue of homelessness in a positive way. This commission can serve as a long-term impact on homelessness because of its purpose to address homelessness. This commission is supported by California leaders that continue to work together throughout time to find solutions to decrease the homeless population. In the short term the elected state officials continue to work on creating temporary housing and shelters for the homeless, that are offered year round. It is still not clear if the 2020 election will have a impact on the issue of homelessness. However presidential candidates of the 2020 election, like senator of New Jersey Cory Booker, have the history of supporting bills that focus on efforts to reduce poverty. So far Cory Booker, is one of the only presidential candidates that has the bigger background in issues like poverty and homelessness.
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AuthorUndergraduate student generated content. Blog posting and updating done by Kristina Flores Victor, Assistant Professor of Political Science at CSUS Archives
March 2020
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