Governor Newsom announces stronger accountability measures, launches new tool measuring local progress in tackling homelessness
Releases $920 million in additional homelessness funding
What you need to know: Governor Newsom today announced stronger accountability measures to hold local governments accountable if they fail to make progress in addressing homelessness. The Governor also unveiled a new online accountability tool to help the public track their community’s progress on housing, homelessness, and behavioral health, in addition to $920 million in new funding.
SACRAMENTO — As part of the state’s ongoing efforts to address the national homelessness crisis, Governor Newsom today announced strong accountability measures for local jurisdictions to demonstrate results to continue receiving state homelessness funding. Governor Newsom is also launching a new online tool, accountability.ca.gov, which brings together thousands of locally reported data points to provide a clear picture of local communities’ work on California’s most pressing issues, including homelessness, housing, and behavioral health.
“No one in our nation should be without a place to call home. As we continue to support our communities in addressing homelessness, we expect fast results, not excuses. While we are pleased by the progress many communities have made to address the homelessness crisis, there is more work to do.”Governor Gavin Newsom
Stronger accountability
Today, Governor Newsom is announcing additional accountability measures for communities that receive state funding. The announcement comes alongside new Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) funding to support local homelessness efforts, tied to performance benchmarks and the ability for the state to withhold funding allocations if local communities do not make progress. The funding also comes with flexibility for communities that need to modify their plans in the case of natural disasters, such as the recent Los Angeles area firestorms.
More results
Communities that receive awards through the newest round of HHAP funding must adhere to increased accountability, transparency, and compliance measures. These include an increased focus on resolving encampments, requirements that recipients have a compliant housing element to obtain future funding, and requirements that grantees obligate and expend past awards before receiving new funds. These strengthened measures will better ensure real, measurable results and will improve the tracking of data and outcomes.
As part of the proposed 2025-2026 budget, the Governor has called for even stronger accountability measures as a condition on any additional state funding, including requirements that grantees have and maintain a compliant housing element, prioritization for communities designated as “pro-housing,” and mechanisms to claw back funding from local governments that fail to demonstrate progress.
Find out how your community is doing
Today’s announcement comes alongside the debut of a new online tool accountability.ca.gov, which brings together thousands of locally reported data points to provide an accurate picture of local communities’ work to address homelessness, create housing, and create behavioral health supports. The new accountability tool will allow Californians to quickly and clearly assess the progress being made by their local governments on these pressing issues, and learn more about the process and funding provided to communities by the state.
