Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law a bill that requires Sacramento, Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights, Folsom and Sacramento County to establish a new regional homelessness agency.<\/p>\n
Introduced by state Senate Majority Leader Angelique Ashby, who represents much of Sacramento County, the bill aimed to address disconnect between local governments\u2019 homelessness efforts.<\/p>\n
The new agency would oversee the implementation of the region\u2019s homelessness action plan.<\/p>\n
A new agency tasked with coordinating Sacramento-area cities\u2019 plans for addressing homelessness will be established, after Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a bill requiring one into law Sunday.<\/p>\n
The bill by state Senate Majority Leader Angelique Ashby, D-Sacramento<\/a>, requires the cities of Sacramento, Elk Grove, Rancho Cordova, Citrus Heights and Folsom as well as Sacramento County to start the new umbrella agency, which would be \u201cdesigned to make a meaningful difference for people experiencing housing insecurity and homelessness across the County of Sacramento,\u201d the bill says<\/a>.<\/p>\n Nearly 7,500 people in Sacramento County are unhoused, according to an official annual count<\/a>. About 4,200 of those are unsheltered.<\/p>\n \t\tSign Up for the Morning Newsletter<\/p>\n The Abridged morning newsletter lands in your inbox every weekday morning with the latest news from the Sacramento region.<\/p>\n Ashby\u2019s bill aims to resolve over a decade of plans and promises by the city and county of Sacramento to start an umbrella agency, known as a joint powers authority, to improve the region\u2019s approach to tackling homelessness, the bill says.<\/p>\n The bill also followed Sacramento County Civil Grand Jury findings in recent years highlighting local governments\u2019 siloed homelessness strategies and recommending a regional agency, the bill says.<\/p>\n In signing the legislation Sunday, Newsom referenced those roadblocks. \u201cHomelessness does not stop at jurisdictional boundaries, and no city or county can solve this crisis alone,\u201d he wrote in a message about the signing<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ashby anticipated greater regional cooperation as a result of her bill in an Instagram post Sunday<\/a>. \u201cFor two decades, Sacramento has tried and failed to establish a Joint Powers Authority to collaboratively tackle homelessness. SB802 makes that happen \u2014 finally.\u201d<\/p>\n Much of the Sacramento area\u2019s homelessness response is currently streamlined through what\u2019s known as a continuum of care<\/a>, an organization that coordinates homelessness funding, programs and strategies.<\/p>\n Continuums of care often include local nonprofits<\/a>, governments, affordable housing developers, businesses, advocates, unhoused people and more, with the intention of including entire communities in tackling homelessness. The nonprofit Sacramento Steps Forward currently leads<\/a> Sacramento\u2019s continuum.<\/p>\n Forming a new agency<\/p>\n With the signing of Ashby\u2019s bill, the Continuum of Care will be placed under the authority of the new regional agency, the bill says.<\/p>\n It would also take over some of the continuum\u2019s responsibilities, including the yearly point-in-time count of unhoused residents and the region\u2019s system for tracking data about the services provided to them, the bill says.<\/p>\n The new agency will be also responsible for setting goals, overseeing the enactment of the region\u2019s homelessness action plan and coordinating the delivery of programs for unhoused people, among other responsibilities, the bill states.<\/p>\n But beyond these general outlines, the details of how the Sacramento region\u2019s diverse array of existing homelessness efforts will be subsumed under a new agency remain to be seen, Sacramento Steps Forward CEO Trenton Simmons said Monday.<\/p>\n \u201cAs far as how this is all going to work, I mean honestly, that\u2019s the big question at this point,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Years of planning<\/p>\n Local governments and organizations have been working to increase coordination among themselves on homelessness for years, Simmons said. An ad hoc Planning Task Force also aiming to streamline regional efforts could finish some of their efforts by 2027, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cHow will all of these competing efforts reconcile themselves?\u201d Simmons asked.<\/p>\n While the new regional agency is being created, the most important consideration is ensuring services to unhoused people are not negatively affected, he said.<\/p>\n \u201cAs much as we do want to find ways to collaborate better \u2026 we want to ensure that the actual work \u2026 stays at the forefront of our minds,\u201d Simmons said.<\/p>\n Ashby was not available to answer questions about the bill Monday, as the senator is traveling abroad, her spokesperson said.<\/p>\n Not without opposition<\/p>\n Some officials representing areas the new agency will cover opposed the bill.<\/p>\n As of August, Sacramento Mayor Kevin McCarty opposed the proposal, according to an official analysis<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sacramento County, as well as Supervisors Rich Desmond, Patrick Kennedy and Rosario Rodriquez and Sheriff Jim Cooper, were also against it as of August.<\/p>\n On the other hand, Sacramento City Council members Caity Maple, Karina Talamantes, Lisa Kaplan, Mai Vang and Rick Jennings supported the bill, according to the analysis.<\/p>\n \u201cYears of work have gone into getting us to this moment,\u201d Maple said on Facebook Sunday after Newsom signed the legislation<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, we keep working toward a regional structure that helps more people get off the streets and into housing.\u201d<\/p>\n