County Wants Fair Share for Homeless
San Diego County has the third highest homeless population in the nation yet it ranks 18th when it comes to federal funding to help the homeless.
The statistics were reported by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) in a report last November and shows San Diego County falls behind only New York and Los Angeles in the number of homeless people.
During a Board meeting Tuesday, the County Board of Supervisors voted to fight for more federal dollars in keeping with the size of its homeless population. The County plans to join the City of San Diego in lobbying HUD for more money to help the region’s 10,000+ homeless.
Supervisor Ron Roberts told Board members San Diego is not being treated fairly.
“Whether we’re focusing on the homeless youth, the homeless veteran or the homeless family, this is one of those common sense items that we all need to get behind,” said Supervisor Roberts.
Each year, the County’s Department of Housing and Community Development, on behalf of the Regional Continuum of Care, applies to HUD for federal funding. HUD relies on formulas originally designed to address high density populations on the nation’s East Coast. The formulas haven’t been updated to reflect growing homeless populations on the West Coast.
“This is unfair to the people of San Diego County and our action today is the first step to changing that outdated federal funding formula,” said Chairman Greg Cox. “This region deserves a more equitable distribution of HUD dollars to allow us to provide more transitional housing, rental assistance, shelter assistance and other programs to support the homeless.”
Chairman Cox added that Mayor Bob Filner is leading the lobbying effort and that by working jointly, the County and the City of San Diego may be more effective in bringing housing dollars to the region.