Lack of access to affordable housing affects Californians' quality of life, education and health. Survivors of domestic violence are among those at high risk of becoming homeless. A California study found that women who reported an episode of domestic violence were four times more likely to experience housing instability than other women. There are profound racial inequalities in terms of homelessness in California, as black people are at a very disproportionate risk of becoming homeless, as are American Indians or Alaska Natives and Pacific Islanders, reflecting the effects of structural racism and unequal treatment and access to opportunities in education, employment, health, the judicial system and other areas.
About one-third of Californians who are left homeless on any given night are chronically homeless with serious health problems. While shelter development has stalled, many advocates and policy makers have promoted the “Housing First” initiative, who believe that permanent housing plus support services are the most important step in solving chronic homelessness. When Californians are left homeless, urgent action is needed, because no one should be left homeless. Several cities and counties in California filed amicus briefs urging the Supreme Court to annul the decision, arguing that this would hinder efforts to clean up homeless camps that posed serious risks to public health and safety.
Enacting this approach would fundamentally change the lives of people who are homeless and unstable in housing. Housing vouchers would help families, both those who are homeless and those who face high rent burdens that put them at risk of eviction and homelessness, to obtain and maintain stable and affordable housing and to increase their incomes above the poverty line. People who identify as transgender or gender non-conforming are more likely to be homeless without shelter. Unlike other bills that aim to address homelessness, it would provide critical housing infrastructure by expanding Housing Choice vouchers and investments in the National Housing Trust Fund to address the underlying shortage of affordable housing, which is severe in some communities and helps drive the increase in the number of homeless people in communities across the country.
Homeless and homeless people have greater needs than refugees and are often hired in harmful ways by the police. This figure is higher than the figure at any given time because many people who become homeless at some point in the year return to stable housing relatively quickly, and the one-off count only reflects the number of people who are left homeless one night of the year. LGBTQ youth are more than twice the risk of becoming homeless compared to their non-LGBTQ peers, and among youth who are homeless, LGBTQ youth reported higher rates of trauma and adversity, including twice the rate of premature death. A system that prioritizes working with landlords to create and maintain positive relationships that benefit the homeless, the business community and neighborhoods.
First of all, the funding for affordable housing and the pandemic related to the homeless that have been received to date is having a positive impact and are deeply appreciated by the communities that have received them. Even so, intensive care is needed if the primary cause of a person's homelessness is mental illness, drug addiction, or alcohol abuse (Pearson 200). Imagine a care system for the homeless that, instead of being forced to prioritize people based on how sick or at risk they are, can quickly offer a family, a young person or a person in crisis a permanent housing option.
