Gov. Newsom to Spend Another $1 Billion on Homeless

California Governor Gavin Newsom announced plans Monday to allocate an additional $1 billion to support his homelessness programs, focusing on expanding housing and behavioral health services.

Newsom now claims he is “Repairing California’s behavioral health system,” which he says he began in 2019.

Gov. Newsom also claims California’s first statewide drop in unsheltered homelessness in more than 15 years, but they probably died on the streets, because there is no sober living treatment available in Newsom’s “Housing First” programs for the “unsheltered.”

Newsom says “the data was derived using HUD’s standard reporting approach, and is based on data reported by 30 Continuums of Care,” which historically undercount homeless. Newsom’s press release makes this statement but does not link to any report.

Here is Gov. Newsom’s latest fairytale:

“California’s homelessness plummeted in 2025 — with the largest drop in 15 years — according to preliminary data, due to Governor Newsom’s strategies to reduce homelessness, address encampments, and create shelter and support. Data from California communities reporting 2025 numbers show a 9% drop in unsheltered homelessness, bucking national trends by getting people off the streets and into safe shelter and care.”

A 9% drop in homeless would be over 30,000 off the streets. Who are you going to believe, me, or your lying eyes?

“Care and accountability go hand in hand — full stop,” said Newsom. “Through CARE Court, we have seen inspirational stories of recovery and resilience, but many counties continue to lag behind their peers. Local leaders have a moral and legal obligation to deliver this transformational tool for those who need it most. We will not accept failure and excuses when lives are on the line.”

Except failure and excuses is what Californians have gotten from Newsom since 2019.

Newsom named the 10 counties that he said are underperforming in his CARE Court program, and warned about losing the funding: “I’m happy to redirect every damn penny in these programs to the counties that are getting things done, period, full stop. Unless they stop doing what they’ve done. Don’t make any more excuses,” Newsom said.

Homeless Funding Transparency

Gov. Newsom vetoed two bills in 2024 that would have created actual transparency and auditing for the tens of billions that was spent and lost on homeless programs, the Globe reported in February. One bill would have required annual reporting on state-run homelessness programs, and the other would have improved data collection and assessment of homelessness programs.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has spent $37 billion on homelessness since 2019, yet undercounts the homeless, according to the California Legislative Analyst’s Office 2025-2026 budget overview.

The Globe has seven years of articles reporting that Newsom ignored the mental health issues of the state’s homeless and instead prioritized the failed “Housing First” plan – building new homes, tiny homes, renovating motels and apartment for homeless, mentally-ill drug addicts. Their mental illnesses were ignored.

In 2021, the Globe reported California lawmakers proposed a $20 billion plan to give California cities funds to combat the homeless epidemic. Gov. Gavin Newsom proposed $12 billion in spending, which has only enticed more homeless people to move to California, and grow the mentally-ill, drug-addicted street population.

According to the state’s California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH), California’s 44 Continuum of Care Programs collectively provided services to about 337,000 people (unduplicated) who were experiencing homelessness during calendar year 2023, and about 310,000 people in 2024, although complete data for 2024 was not yet available as of the September 30, 2024 report.

In 2019 when Governor Newsom took office, California had roughly 134,000 homeless people living on the streets, amounting to one-quarter of the nation’s total homeless population. He managed to increased the population to nearly 350,000 homeless drug addicts.

337,000 homeless drug addicts living on California streets is the size of  California’s 11th largest city.

The Real History of California’s Homeless Schemes

In October 2025, Newsom even vetoed legislation to create more drug-free housing options for people recovering from drug addiction. The bill passed the Senate with an overwhelming bipartisan 39-0 vote, and the Assembly 79-0. Newsom claimed that “current law already permits local jurisdictions to receive funding within the Housing First framework.” Newsom also claimed the bill would have been a “duplicative and costly new statutory category.”

Newsom’s failed “Housing First” program does not prioritize “recovery housing,” or sober living programs, which is the only way homeless drug addicts will ever recover. The housing first policy has been a failure – except for those financially benefitting from the government funded renovations and rent payments.

Yet Newsom said in his announcement Monday, he is “Building more housing and expanding services.”

Newsom claims:

In 2019, during his first State of the State, Governor Newsom announced that addressing the homelessness and mental health crises would become a new state priority — making him the first Governor to launch a statewide strategy to address these challenges.

The Governor began repairing a system that had suffered from decades of neglect, beginning with then-Governor Reagan’s administration, when state hospitals were closed and no adequate alternative was provided, leaving people most in need of help to fall into the criminal justice system or homelessness. This created a generational impact. Today, across California, individuals with untreated psychosis are 10 times more likely to experience homelessness and 16 times more likely to be incarcerated.

The governor is lying. Homelessness did not begin in Ronald Reagan’s administration, nor did the former governor close all of the the state’s mental health institutions: “…beginning with then-Governor Reagan’s administration, when state hospitals were closed and no adequate alternative was provided,” This statement is proof that Gavin Newsom isn’t a serious Governor, if he blames former Governor Ronald Reagan.

It was President John F. Kennedy who signed a bill On Oct. 31, 1963 to shutter mental institutions and replace them with 1,500 outpatient mental health centers to offer them community-based care instead, but Congress never funded the plan. This was the last piece of legislation Kennedy signed as he was assassinated three weeks later.

Blame Congress for the closure of mental institutions.

We can also address the 2022 brutal rape and murder of  downtown Sacramento resident Kate Tibbitts by “homeless” parolee and transient Troy Davis, the Globe reported, out on the streets despite parole violations, which are policies of Gov. Newsom. Davis even killed her dogs and set her house on fire.

Newsom claims slow CARE Court roll outs by certain counties are the reason mentally-ill homeless drug addicts still reside on California streets.

When Gov. Newsom signed the Community Assistance, Recovery, and Empowerment Act law in September 2022, CARE Courts, he called it “transformative” for helping homeless with mental illnesses get the help they need.

But as the Voice of OC reported in July, “Gov. Gavin Newsom’s Flagship Mental Health Court Is Failing in Orange County.”

“After nearly two years, the program has only placed one person on a mandated plan and another dozen on voluntary agreements. So far, only one person has graduated from the program.”

“There aren’t many details on what happens in the actual CARE Courtroom – case records are sealed, conferences are not open to the public.”

Governor Newsom says he is awarding ten counties as “CARE Champions,” saying they have successfully implemented CARE Court within their communities:

• Humboldt
• Tuolumne
• Marin
• Napa
• Merced
• Sutter
• Alameda
• Santa Barbara
• San Mateo
• Imperial

Newsom has identified 10 underperforming counties to receive additional support through the state’s CARE Improvement and Coordination Unit, and has designated these counties as “CARE ICU” (Improvement and Coordination Unit) Counties:

• Santa Clara County
• San Bernardino County
• Orange County
• Los Angeles County
• Kern County
• Riverside County
• Yolo County
• Monterey County
• Fresno County
• San Francisco County

In December 2024, the Governor’s Office announced the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) Court program was expanded to all 58 Counties in California, even though the program has mixed results.

The rollout of Newsom’s CARE Court program was slow, launched in October 2023 with Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Stanislaus, Glenn, and Tuolumne counties, Los Angeles opening in December 2023, San Mateo in July 2024, and Kern in October 2024, the Globe reported. Funding began with an initial $88 million, with plans, under full implementation, to raise funding to $215 million by 2026.

Now Newsom says he’s committing $1 billion in ongoing funding which will begin in July, and will be included in his May Budget Revise.

Lawsuits also hampered Newsom’s program for months. Disability Rights California, the Western Center on Law & Poverty, and the Public Interest Law Project filed a suit, Disability Rights California v. Newsom, challenging the Care Courts in the state Supreme Court in January 2023 over the involuntary nature of the courts.

The city of Los Angeles spends nearly $1 million per homeless drug addict via NGO/Non-profit that they try to get off the streets. But the incentives are perverse – they want to serve more homeless people to increase their business, so they never implement actual programs that would lead to recovery for the addict.

This is their business model. Governor Newsom knows this. As we have all witnessed in California, the more money spent on “homelessness” the more drug-addicted homeless vagrants we attract. The more we complain about the homeless drug addicts living in our neighborhoods, the more money is spent on it.

It’s such a vicious circle.