California spent billions of dollars to combat its ongoing homelessness issue plaguing the Democrat-run state, only to lose track of where the funds went.
Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom’s (D-CA) administration lost track of whether $24 billion in taxpayer funds it spent in the last five years worked to fix the state’s homelessness problem.
Per the California State Auditor’s report released earlier this week, there were several “gaps” in where the funding for the homelessness issue that was allocated during the 2018-2023 fiscal year went. The state claims it went to more than 30 homeless and housing programs during the 2018-2023 fiscal years.
“This report concludes that the state must do more to assess the cost-effectiveness of its homelessness programs," State Auditor Grant Parks wrote in a letter to Newsom. California “has not collected sufficient data” to show that the $24 billion was used to effectively improve the situation.
The audit examined five programs that received $13.7 billion in funding. However, it found that only two of the programs were "likely cost-effective," which includes one that turns hotel rooms into housing and shelters for the homeless. The other provides housing assistance to families.
The housing assistance program spent more than $760 million over the past five years. Newsom claimed that converting a hotel room into a shelter is 2.5 times cheaper than building new homes.
The other three programs, which received $9.4 billion since 2020, were unable to be evaluated because of a lack of data.
“Cal ICH has also not aligned its action plan to end homelessness with its statutory goals to collect financial information and ensure accountability and results,” the report read. “Thus, it lacks assurance that the actions it takes will effectively enable it to achieve those goals.”
The report also found that the California Interagency Council on Homelessness hasn't tracked spending or whether the programs were working since June 2021. It states that the database includes deleted records and test entries, meaning that some of the data on the number of program participants might be overstated since it doesn't verify the accuracy of the data submitted by municipalities.
Rep. Kevin Kiley (R-CA) criticized Newsom for attempting to stop the audit from happening.
“I first asked for the audit in 2020, but Newsom intervened to kill it. Now we know why he didn’t want his spending examined,” Kiley wrote on X. “Meanwhile, homelessness has increased by 32 percent in California over the last five years. It has increased 67 percent in Sacramento. And half the nation’s unsheltered homeless now live in our state.”
“California is spending more and more on homelessness and the problem continues to get worse worse and worse. Far worse than anywhere else in America. It’s yet another example of how our citizens sacrifice the most and get the least in return,” he continued.
Democrat Sen. Dave Cortese (D-CA) indicated that the lack of transparency is troubling and that the audit “highlights the need for improved data and greater transparency at both the state and local levels.”