When looking at the numbers, there’s no question Texas is doing a better job of mitigating homelessness than California. For one thing, Texas’ homeless population shrunk by nearly a third over the past decade, while California’s grew by 43%, according to the federally mandated point-in-time count.
Five major U.S. cities and the state of California will receive federal help to get unsheltered residents into permanent housing under a new plan launched Thursday as part of the Biden administration’s larger goal to reduce homelessness 25% by 2025.
Being what it is, California has a mélange of complex public policy issues – some of them fully blown crises – that defy resolution year after year, decade after decade.
The Department of Veterans Affairs, the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness announced preliminary results of the 2022 Point-in-Time Count showing an 11% decline in Veteran homelessness since early 2020, the last time a full count was conducted. This is the biggest drop in Veteran homelessness in more than five years.