{"id":372956,"date":"2026-06-24T12:39:09","date_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:39:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/372956\/"},"modified":"2026-06-24T12:39:09","modified_gmt":"2026-06-24T12:39:09","slug":"report-shows-increase-in-successful-placements-of-unhoused-residents-insufficient-funding-threatens-progress-housing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/372956\/","title":{"rendered":"Report shows increase in successful placements of unhoused residents, insufficient funding threatens progress | Housing"},"content":{"rendered":"

A new data report from Berkeley\u2019s Homeless Response Team shows an increase in successful placement in shelters for participants who are unhoused, citing an increase in shelter capacity brought online this year in collaboration with Alameda County.<\/p>\n

However, the report also warned that with the fiscal cliffs shelters are facing, in combination with the city\u2019s general budget deficit<\/a>, the current rate of placements may not be sustainable and could result in a decline in successful outcomes.<\/p>\n

The Homeless Response Team, or HRT, is run by the city and aims to help place residents who are unhoused in shelters and permanent housing. HRT also cleans and closes encampments that pose health risks<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The recent data states that 55% of participants who are unhoused working with HRT were enrolled in a shelter \u2014 an increase from only 25% in November 2025 \u2014 and another 3% have been placed in permanent or temporary housing.<\/p>\n

The report also showed that 91% of participants received a Coordinated Entry housing needs assessment, which is required before participants can be placed in permanent and temporary housing queues.<\/p>\n

However, while 84% of assessed participants were eligible for housing queues, only 5% of eligible participants received housing placements.<\/p>\n

The report cites that the lack of housing placements is in large part because placements are under the jurisdiction of the county, and not the city, which can only refer eligible participants.<\/p>\n

\u201cPermanent supportive housing (PSH) is a finite, county-administered resource with long waitlists; even PSH-eligible participants typically wait months to years for a placement,\u201d said city spokesperson Seung Lee in an email. \u201cShelter is what the HRT can directly connect people to in the meantime.\u201d<\/p>\n

Margot Kushel, a researcher at the UCSF Benioff Homeless and Housing Initiative who has studied Berkeley encampment solutions including the RV buyback<\/a> program, said a \u201clack of affordable housing is the crux of homelessness,\u201d and that a large reason eligible individuals haven\u2019t been placed is there is little housing available.<\/p>\n

Additionally, the report found that in the past six months there have been \u201cmeaningful inflows\u201d of residents from neighboring areas participating in HRT services.<\/p>\n

Twenty-one new participants reported being from Oakland, while 16 were from Contra Costa County. Fourteen were from other parts of California, and 17 new participants reported being from Berkeley.<\/p>\n

Kushel said some of this flow is linked to displacement of residents from encampments in neighboring areas, and that \u201cthere needs to be a recognition of this in policymaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis points out one of the very real problems with displacement policies that push people away from their communities,\u201d Kushel said in an email. \u201cPeople don\u2019t disappear, they need to be someplace.\u201d<\/p>\n

Using California State Encampment Resolution Fund dollars, Berkeley has opened four noncongregate motels \u2014 shelters that provide low-density, private rooms for residents \u2014 since 2022.<\/p>\n

The report stated that this increase in housing stock for unhoused residents \u201chelped move some of Berkeley\u2019s hardest-to-serve unsheltered population indoors.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, the motels are now facing a multimillion-dollar fiscal cliff. In combination with the city\u2019s general budget deficit, the report said that this fiscal climate could make it difficult to open new shelter programs, and that there could be a decline in positive outcomes.<\/p>\n

Lee added that one motel \u2014 the Campus Motel \u2014 is at risk of closing without additional funding, and that the city is working with the motel\u2019s operators, Insight Housing, to identify funding opportunities.<\/p>\n

To aid this, the report proposes that the city advocate for Berkeley to receive an \u201cappropriate share\u201d of Measure W sales tax funding from Alameda County.<\/p>\n

Lee said the city asked the county to direct Measure W funds toward projects which increase permanent supportive capacity, continue shelter programs, expand targeted homelessness prevention programs and provide resources to prevent displacement.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A new data report from Berkeley\u2019s Homeless Response Team shows an increase in successful placement in shelters for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":372957,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[389,151200,151202,151203,32259,392,151197,151198,151199,12490,143,145,144,14200,151201,9217],"class_list":["post-372956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-alameda-county","tag-benioff-homeless-and-housing-initiative","tag-california-state-encampment-resolution-fund","tag-campus-motel","tag-city-of-berkeley","tag-contra-costa-county","tag-homeless-response-team","tag-hrt","tag-margot-kushel","tag-measure-w","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-seung-lee","tag-state-encampment-resolution-fund","tag-ucsf"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372956","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=372956"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/372956\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/372957"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=372956"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=372956"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=372956"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}