Audit Unable to Account for $24 Billion Spent on California Homeless Crisis

An audit was unable to determine how a California agency spent $24 billion on the state’s homeless problem, which has only become worse since the money was doled out.

According to KTLA, the California Interagency Council on Homelessness recently claimed they were unable to track the effectiveness of the taxpayer-funded program, saying it “has not consistently tracked and evaluated the state’s efforts to prevent and end homelessness.”

“If you’re a taxpayer, right, you should be outraged because obviously your money is being wasted,” said Republican assembly member Josh Hoover.

“But even if you’re a homeless advocate, someone that wants to support these programs with state dollars, you should be outraged right because the reality is they’re clearly not getting people the help that they need,” he added.

While the audit failed to find how the missing billions were spent, another proposition, Prop. 1, passed by voters this month touted by Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) will also dole out another $6.4 billion to the homeless issue.

USA Today reports:

Prop. 1 had passed by less than half a percent of the vote and will allocate about $6.4 billion to build mental health treatment facilities and housing. It will also provide rental assistance for the unhoused who are chronically homeless and have mental health or addiction issues.

Funding will be used to add 11,150 new treatment beds and supportive housing units and over 26,00 outpatient spots, according to the governor’s website. The bond includes $1 billion set aside specifically for veterans’ housing.

While the measure is not expected to significantly change the number of unhoused people in California, it received bipartisan support to boost funding for housing and mental health.