Why all levels of government need to work together to fight homelessness

A recent report from the US Housing and Urban Development Department says that more than a third of the country’s chronically homeless live in California.

Agencies across all levels of government are starting to work together to combat this massive problem. “The plans range form talking about the need for more resources to create supportive housing, to trying to access existing services to allow people to move form the streets to a home,” said Sharon Rapport, Associate Director of the Corporation for Supportive Housing. This planning also includes strategies to coordinate state and federal resources.

On a state level, there’s a proposal for a $2 billion bond, which would raises money to build permanent supportive housing for the homeless, particularly for those who are mentally ill. “I think we’re starting to see a lot of bridges being built between the different levels of government,” said Joseph Boniwell, Policy Director at Housing California.

(Photo: Tomas Cloer via Flickr)