Governor Gavin Newson’s recently proposed amendments to the 2024-25 state budget could result in cuts to housing services for members of the homeless and disabled communities, according to a press release from the Alameda County Homeless Action Center (HAC).
The proposed rebudget would affect funding for the Housing and Disability Assistance Program (HDAP), which has allowed HAC to expand housing services to disabled, homeless and low-income residents in Alameda County.
“HDAP is one of the most valuable state-funded programs with a proven track record of getting people off the streets,” the HAC press release said. “It would be unjust to cut HDAP at a time when homelessness continues to rise in our communities.”
State lawmakers have until June 15 to pass the budget.
HAC drafted a letter signed by several state senators and representatives to Governor Newsom in opposition to these budget amendments, explaining that there has “never been a worse time” to cut funding for housing services given that California is experiencing an “alarming surge” in homelessness.
According to the letter, the proposed budget cuts would result in the end of three HAC programs, including Almost Home, a seven-bed transitional “shelter” on Haist Street in Berkeley that supports 25 clients at a time, and HAC’s Mending Bridges Project, which helps reunite former inmates with their families.
Since December 2020, HAC has housed 106 individuals, a quarter of whom are over the age of 55, in two temporary housing facilities in West Oakland, Almost Home and Casa Maria. The temporary housing facilities can accommodate 17 clients.
“Temporary housing is an important step toward permanent housing because it gives clients an opportunity to reacclimate to living indoors, learn how to care for their space, and prepare them to succeed in permanent housing,” the letter reads. “Without HDAP funding, Almost Home and Casa Maria would be forced to close, and currently housed individuals would return to living on the streets and be unable to access temporary housing in the future.”
HAC’s letter states that cutting HDAP funding will put people back on the streets and make it even harder for them to get back into housing. Instead of reallocating funds to functioning housing programs, HAC urges the Legislature to ensure that funding is allocated equally to programs that help people exit homelessness.
HAC noted that this funding had already been committed by Governor Newsom and explained that these budget changes would hinder HAC’s plans to expand services because the Center is dependent on the funds originally allocated.
“The impact of cutting this funding statewide would be brutal for the many who have benefited in the past and will benefit in the future,” the HAC letter read. “In a state where the Governor has prioritized getting people out of homelessness, it makes no sense to cut the funding that is now allowing this to happen during an unprecedented homelessness crisis.”