California to seek beds for mental health, drug treatment
California Gov. Gavin Newsom's latest plan for the state's homelessness crisis asks voters to fund a major expansion of housing and treatment for residents suffering from mental illness and addiction
SAN DIEGO (AP) — California voters would decide whether to fund a major expansion of housing and treatment for residents suffering from mental illness and addiction, under the latest proposal by Gov. Gavin Newsom to address the state's homelessness crisis.
Newsom announced Sunday that he will ask allies in the Democratic-controlled Legislature for a measure on the 2024 ballot to authorize funding to build residential facilities where up to 12,000 people a year could live and be treated. The plan is the latest by the governor who took office in 2019 vowing to own the issue of homelessness in a state where an estimated 171,000 were unhoused last year.
The governor called the plan the next step in how California expands services for unhoused people, especially those with psychological and substance use disorders.
“We have to address and come to grips with the reality of mental health in this state and our nation. The question is, what can we do more and do better?” Newsom said at a news conference.
