Sacramento, CA…Governor Gavin Newsom today announced that the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency awarded $48 million in grants to eight California communities to fund comprehensive, compassionate, and innovative efforts that will serve 1,361 unsheltered people living in encampments and support their pathway to safe and stable housing.

“Californians deserve clean and safe communities,” said Governor Newsom. “We have to take responsibility together to tackle the homelessness crisis and clean up our streets. I’m proud of my administration for rapidly clearing more than 1,000 encampments and putting individuals on a pathway to safe and stable housing with compassion and care.”

“By working in partnership with these eight grantees, we will assist 1,461 people who are experiencing unsheltered homelessness in encampments and help to restore public spaces to their intended uses,” said Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez. “We continue to collect the best practices from all of the communities that have received grants and share those best practices in future rounds of the Encampment Resolution Fund program to develop long-term solutions.”

These eight grantees announced today add to the 19 communities that received grants in February. The 19 communities that received funding are serving more than 1,400 individuals experiencing unsheltered homelessness in encampments. This year’s budget increased funding to $300 million in Fiscal Year 2022-23 and $400 million in Fiscal Year 2023-24.

The following cities and counties will receive the new Encampment Resolution Funding (ERF):

• Los Angeles City and County Continuum of Care – $14.96 million to serve 500 women and families living in the Skid Row area of Los Angeles.
• Riverside County – $11 million to help 200 persons experiencing homelessness in the Santa Ana River Bottom across several communities
• City and County of San Francisco – $10.85 million to meet the needs of 345 unhoused persons living in areas of the Van Ness and Polk Street Alleys located in downtown San Francisco.
• City of Oakland – $3.6 million to serve an additional 50 persons living in the Wood Street Encampment. The city received $4.7 million to serve 50 persons in the first round of ERF.
• City of Oroville – $2.73 million to assist 80 persons living unhoused along a railroad corridor in Southern Oroville.
• City of San Diego – $2.45 million to serve 50 individuals living in encampments in the East Village area of downtown San Diego.
• City of Montebello – $1.7 million to aid 65 individuals living in encampments in an area at high risk of wildfire along the Rio Hondo River, which forms the eastern border of the city.
• City of Redding – $950,000 to serve 71 people experiencing homelessness in the greenway south of Lake Boulevard near downtown Redding.

The ERF program is a competitive grant available for Counties, CoCs, and cities of any size that aims to (1) assist local jurisdictions in ensuring the safety and wellness of people experiencing homelessness in encampments; (2) resolve critical encampment concerns and transition individuals into safe and stable housing; and (3) encourage a data-informed, coordinated approach. The ERF program also provides funding for robust technical assistance.

The California Interagency Council on Homelessness will provide extensive technical assistance to the grantees and is tracking the demonstration projects closely to capture encampment resolution best practices that can be shared with communities statewide.

More information about the ERF grant program can be found here.

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