A draft budget analysis from Los Angeles city housing officials estimates that eliminating homelessness in the city would cost more than $20 billion over the next ten years.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the estimate would require “state and federal governments to more than double their spending on the problem.”
The funding would contribute to 36,000 permanent housing units for homeless people with chronic health concerns. Funds would also “build or subsidize 25,000 additional apartments for very low-income residents,” the outlet explained.
An estimated 45,000 people are currently homeless in Los Angeles. Of those, 29,000 are unsheltered, according to recent data.
If the analysis is implemented, homelessness will reach “functional zero” by the end of 2032. “Functional zero” means homelessness is rare and affects the city for brief periods. Those who need shelter beds would be able to access them, the outlet described.
The draft analysis “does not propose new programs to address homelessness,” the outlet noted, but it “assumes the city scales up its existing efforts, such as Inside Safe and the building of permanent supportive housing.”
American Faith reported that the city of Los Angeles recently opened a high-rise homeless shelter that contains 228 studio apartments, 47 one-bedroom apartments, and three apartments for managers.
California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) has also admitted that the state’s policies are to blame for its homelessness.
“I mean, because of our own policies and neglect, we put up our feet. We rested on our laurels. We allowed nimbyism to dominate in our state. We’re not building — it’s econ 101, supply and demand. We simply have not been building enough housing for decades and decades and decades. So the cost of living, affordability, has been the dominant challenge in our state,” Newsom said.
The governor previously claimed that his state set the “national model” for responding to homelessness.
