The administration and state and local governments have a hard job right now, and we are grateful for their work to make sure people in California are taken care of. It is our intention to continue working alongside agencies and staff to ensure that California’s approach to the crisis is as humane, safe, and sensible as possible.
Governor Newsom’s new Executive Order, issued last night, directs $150 million to cities, counties and continuums of care to provide shelter for unhoused people in California during the COVID-19 pandemic. The funds are to be used to build emergency shelter and lease hotels and motels.
We believe leasing existing, unoccupied hotels and motels is the single fastest way to move homeless individuals into housing. While we appreciate the Governor reducing regulatory barriers to providing emergency housing, we believe that in most cases, expanding existing emergency shelters will not be an immediate solution.
We urge counties, cities, and continuums of care to be mindful not to displace existing individuals and families already living in hotels or motels. The CalWORKs Homeless Assistance Program (HAP) has long utilized motel vouchers as a way to keep families experiencing poverty housed when they are evicted or fleeing an abuser. Many other low-income families reside in motels as well. These existing pipelines of assistance must be kept available as we expand housing for individuals experiencing homelessness. It is imperative that local governments communicate closely with county human service programs, advocates, and local residents to avoid displacing vulnerable families when seeking appropriate sites.
We are also calling on the Governor to allow CalWORKs HAP motel vouchers to be used beyond 16 days in a month, and to allow vouchers to be provided in consecutive months to keep families housed during the COVID crisis.
