Source: Santa Barbara County Grand Jury
In
2020, the State of California proposed two programs with one-time funding to
help communities manage their homeless populations: Project Roomkey and Project
Homekey. Both programs were also an urgent response to the COVID-19 pandemic
and to prevent disastrous effects on the homeless. Roomkey secured short-term
hotel rooms for elderly homeless who were at risk of catching and spreading the
virus. Homekey was intended to house some of that same population through
conversion of available buildings to permanent housing. The initial Roomkey
funding ended September 30, 2021; the first Homekey funding allocation ended
December 31, 2020. Santa Barbara County made promising steps to address
homelessness with the one-time State funding. The time constraints motivated
county agencies to work together quickly to accomplish the housing goals within
months. The collaboration was unprecedented.
However,
the County has found it difficult to duplicate their initial successes with
Projects Roomkey and Homekey. There is a discouraging lack of available
property in the County, and property owners are reluctant to turn over what
they have for the purpose of housing the homeless. Nor are there identified
local funds to sustain the two programs without state and federal grant allocations.
The 2021 Santa Barbara County Grand Jury looked into these barriers that could
limit the success of the two homeless programs.
For
2021-22, there is again $150 million in state funding available for Roomkey and
$1.45 billion for Homekey. Future funding after 2022 is uncertain. The2021
Santa BarbaraCounty Grand Jury concluded that the County, its cities and the
two Housing Authorities should make every effort to push past barriers in order
to secure more housing for the homeless.
The
complete report is posted on the Grand Jury’s website: www.sbcgj.org.
Edhat
November24, 2021
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