California launches streamlined housing projects with funds from Prop 1 to address homelessness
California – Governor Gavin Newsom announced new initiatives that will empower local communities throughout California with more tools and significant financing in an aggressive attempt to address homelessness and accelerate the supply of supportive housing. Reflecting California’s outstanding commitment to meet the pressing need for housing and support services, this project follows the passing of Proposition 1 by Californian voters in March 2024.
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To help the supportive housing projects grow faster, Governor Newsom underlined that the state is streamlining the approval and permission procedures. These initiatives seek to move individuals from the streets into stable living quarters where they can get required medical treatment. Local communities will have access to around $2.145 billion in fresh money from Prop 1 as part of this effort. This money is meant to help build projects for permanent supportive housing and stimulate additional opportunities for development.
“The state has fulfilled its promise to help provide California communities with the tools and funding to build new housing with urgency and with an eye to our state’s veterans. It is now time for locals to do their part — we must act quickly to build more housing for people struggling with mental health or substance use disorder and homelessness so they can get a roof over their heads and support at their fingertips as quickly as possible. I encourage eligible entities to move projects forward swiftly and get your shovels ready to break ground,” Gov. Newsom said in a release.
The announcement also launches the Homekey+ initiative, scheduled to begin accepting applications from January 2025. This program will provide grant funding to cities, counties, other local public entities, and both federally and non-federally recognized Indian tribes within California. Through the Tribal Homekey+ project, another $121 million is set specifically for Tribal entities.
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Apart from allocating $6.4 billion for a Behavioral Health Bond, Proposition 1 implements important changes in the Behavioral Health Services Act (BHSA). These changes seek to improve assistance for people with serious mental illnesses and drug abuse problems.
“With this unprecedented commitment to address homelessness, we are moving quickly to support communities throughout California and invest in solutions to build permanent supportive housing,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Secretary Tomiquia Moss.
“These funds will provide local governments and Tribes with essential resources so that unhoused Californians can access the essential housing and supportive services they need to achieve safe and dignified housing and long-term stability,” Moss added.
The Homekey+ model builds on the success of its predecessors by supporting not only the acquisition and renovation of existing buildings but also the construction of new permanent supportive housing (PSH) projects. These initiatives have to finish building in 24 months and employ cost-cutting techniques. They will also offer gap funding for shovel-ready projects, therefore guaranteeing that these projects can start right away.
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This project emphasizes how closely homelessness, lack of cheap housing, and poor mental health care are all related. The state wants to guarantee efficient use of taxpayer money in tackling these important issues by giving local governments the tools and responsibility required.
These new policies are essential for California’s approach to boost housing availability and address the underlying causes of homelessness as the state struggles with a homelessness crisis—where latest statistics from 2023 reveals about 181,000 Californians suffering homelessness.
The website of the California Department of Housing and Community Development provides further specifics regarding the application process and Homekey+ program materials.
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In line with California’s larger goal to change its mental health and drug addiction treatment environments as part of the continuous statewide public health reform, this site will soon publish the relevant guidelines and templates required for the application process.
More information about California’s transformation of our entire mental health and substance use disorder system can be found at mentalhealth.ca.gov.
