From S.F. to California governor, here are 5 of Gavin Newsom’s major homeless policies

From his days as supervisor and mayor in San Francisco to his first term as governor, homelessness has cast a long shadow over Gov. Gavin Newsom’s political career.

Over the past quart-century, Newsom has overseen the spending of billions in tax dollars, crafted new initiatives and considerably scaled up homeless programs that proved successful. Proponents of California’s Democratic governor have commended him for his innovation and willingness to go against the grain while opponents argue his policies around homelessness have often penalized the state’s poorest residents.

Here’s a look at five key programs around homelessness that Newsom has stood up over the years.

CARE Not Cash

As a San Francisco supervisor in 2002, Newsom unveiled a new proposal to cut city-funded cash assistance for unhoused individuals from a maximum of $410 to about $60 a month and put the savings toward housing and services for the homeless.

Homeless advocates described the program, called Care Not Cash, as “heartless” and argued the campaign fed into harmful tropes about unhoused residents. An ad for the initiative featured disheveled men who speak directly into the camera. One man states: “I take your cash and I buy drugs.” Other men follow with the confessions of using the money to buy crack, heroin and alcohol.

The program failed to garner enough support on the Board of Supervisors so Newsom put it to the voters. In November 2002, the measure passed with 60% support among San Francisco voters. And after a legal battle, it officially launched in May 2004.

A 2008 city audit declared that the program was serving its target population and shifting large sums of money from cash payments into mental health and substance abuse services. The number of homeless individuals enrolled in the city’s cash assistance program dropped by more than 80%, and the program continued to run until 2020, when it was paused due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Still, homeless activists argue the city’s review of the program failed to evaluate associated consequences, including longer lines at food banks and competition over limited shelter beds.

Sit/Lie Ordinance

As one of his last moves as mayor of San Francisco, Newsom proposed a new city law making it illegally for people to sit or lie down on sidewalks from 7 a.m. until 11 p.m.

The progressive majority on the Board of Supervisors at that time would not endorse the idea because of concerns that it would unfairly target unhoused residents, day laborers and youth. So Newsom bypassed the board and put the matter in the hands of voters, who passed the measure in November 2010 — the same election in which Newsom was elected as Lieutenant Governor.

Newsom teamed up with then-Police Chief George Gascón to craft the measure in response to complaints of people intimidating residents and shoppers along Haight Street.

A 2016 report from the San Francisco Budget and Legislative Analyst Office found that quality of life laws like the sit/lie ordinance and the city’s aggressive panhandling ban — another regulation that Newsom lead the expansion of — “adversely impacted the homeless” while costing the city an estimated $20.6 million annually.

Project Homeless Connect

In 2004, as Mayor of San Francisco, Newsom partnered with the San Francisco Department of Public Health and created Project Homeless Connect — a new program that drew thousands of unhoused residents to a one-stop shop for necessary services and supplies, including groceries, health and dental care, hygiene products, employment assistance and mental health services.

At times, Newsom would be at the front door of the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium greeting people as they walked in and seeking out one-on-one conversations with unhoused residents about their situations.

Enamored by the idea, Philip Mangano, President George W. Bush’s czar on homelessness, said he helped recreate the program in more than 150 cities across the world.

The program is still in place in San Francisco today but is now run by an outside organization.

Project Homekey

The COVID-19 pandemic forced Newsom and local officials across California to rethink their approach to homeless housing as congregate shelters were dangerous for fueling the spread of the virus. Luckily, thanks to an infusion of federal aid and unprecedented budget surpluses, the state had a lot more funding to pour into its homeless efforts.

One such initiative, which proved to be a shining light amid the pandemic, was Project Homekey.

Project Homekey created long-term housing units for the homeless by buying and converting underutilized hotels and motels. Homekey succeeded another pandemic-fueled initiative called Project Roomkey, which moved vulnerable unhoused residents into rented hotel and motel rooms.

Such conversions programs were not new concepts. The act of acquiring and transforming existing properties is considerably cheaper than building new housing. But the scale and speed to which the state built up such initiatives was unprecedented, leading to one of the largest investments and expansions of housing for homeless residents in history.

CARE Court

Newsom last month signed a new program into law to compel residents struggling with mental health or addiction into court-ordered treatment. The law will create a new civil court system — the Community Assistance, Recovery and Empowerment Court, or CARE Court — where health care workers, first responders or friends of severely mentally ill people can petition a judge to place them in treatment programs and mandate that counties make services available.

For Newsom, he says this program marks a “paradigm shift” in the state’s approach to mental health treatment.

Up to this point, Newsom said local agencies and health providers didn’t have the adequate capacity or resources to treat the thousands of individuals dealing with schizophrenia or other psychotic disorders. With CARE Court, he says the state is taking on the issue and making sure local agencies are given the resources and then held accountable for providing the necessary treatment.

The state’s 2022 budget allocates $39.5 million for CARE Court start-up costs and $37.7 million in ongoing support, according to a legislative floor analysis. The first batch of counties — Glenn, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, San Francisco, Stanislaus, and Tuolumne — are required to establish courts by Oct. 1, 2023, while the remainder of counties have until Dec. 1, 2024 to comply.