2023-102.2 Homelessness in California
San José and San Diego Must Do More to Plan and Evaluate Their Efforts to Reduce Homelessness
Published: April 9, 2024Report Number: 2023-102.2
San José and San Diego Must Do More to Plan and Evaluate Their Efforts to Reduce Homelessness
When an audit is completed and a report is issued, auditees must provide the State Auditor with information regarding their progress in implementing recommendations from our reports at three intervals from the release of the report: 60 days, six months, and one year. Additionally, Senate Bill 1452 (Chapter 452, Statutes of 2006), requires auditees who have not implemented recommendations after one year, to report to us and to the Legislature why they have not implemented them or to state when they intend to implement them. Below, is a listing of each recommendation the State Auditor made in the report referenced and a link to the most recent response from the auditee addressing their progress in implementing the recommendation and the State Auditor’s assessment of auditee’s response based on our review of the supporting documentation.
Recommendations to City of San José
Recommendation 1
To ensure the effectiveness of its actions to prevent and end homelessness, San José should, by September 2024, finalize the annual goals in its city implementation plan on homelessness. The city should then follow its planned schedule for updating its implementation plan goals and for publicly reporting each fall on its progress toward meeting each goal.
Status
pending
Recommendation 2
To promote transparency, accountability, and effective decision‑making, San José should, by September 2024, publicly report in a single location, such as a spending plan, all of the federal and state funding it receives, as well as the local funding it allocates for reducing homelessness, including Measure E funding. It should also regularly monitor the amount of its unspent funding to ensure that it complies with any future spending deadlines and can adequately explain to the public the anticipated timing of its future spending.
Status
pending
Recommendation 3
To ensure that it effectively and transparently spends its funding to prevent and end homelessness, San José should do the following:
- Ensure that when it renews or enters into new agreements with service providers, it establishes clearly defined performance measures.
- Require that beginning by September 2024, staff at least annually document an overall performance review and assessment of the effectiveness of each service provider based on the performance measures in the agreement and other expectations that San José has set.
Status
pending
Recommendation 4
To better assist people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, San José should, by September 2024, develop performance measures to evaluate the effects of the city’s public health and safety programs related to unsheltered homelessness listed in Table 6. An example of such a performance measure is a reduction in the number of public health incidents occurring at encampments. San José should publicly report on the effects of its actions in its annual homelessness report.
Status
pending
Recommendation 5
To ensure that it equitably provides homelessness services to all demographics, San José should immediately begin requesting monthly citywide demographic data from the county of Santa Clara to determine which demographic groups are overrepresented among people who are experiencing homelessness and which groups are underserved by specific program types. San José should take actions as needed to address demographic disparities, such as performing additional outreach or other appropriate actions to meet the needs of underserved groups.
Status
pending
Recommendation 6
By September 2024, San José should develop goals for contributing to the building of permanent housing for people experiencing homelessness that align with its implementation plan for meeting the goals of its CoC’s action plan. By the same date, the city should also formally adopt a policy for identifying and approving suitable locations for interim housing. In addition, it should develop plans for meeting its goal of having one interim housing facility in each city council district, likely by pursuing the construction of interim housing at the additional locations it has already identified.
Status
pending
Recommendation 7
San José should immediately begin monitoring the utilization data from its interim housing facilities and ensure that the data are complete and accurate. The city should take necessary action to remedy any issues it identifies.
Status
pending
Recommendations to City of San Diego
Recommendation 8
To promote transparency, accountability, and effective decision‑making, San Diego should, by September 2024, publicly report in a single location, such as a spending plan, all of the federal and state funding it receives and the local funding it allocates for reducing homelessness. It should also regularly monitor the amount of its unspent funding to ensure that it complies with any future spending deadlines and can adequately explain to the public the anticipated timing of its future spending.
Status
pending
Recommendation 9
To ensure that it effectively and transparently spends its funding to prevent and end homelessness, the city should do the following:
- Ensure that when it renews or enters into new agreements with service providers, it establishes clearly defined performance measures.
- Require that beginning by September 2024, staff at least annually document an overall performance review and assessment of the effectiveness of each service provider based on the performance measures in the agreement and other expectations that San Diego has set.
Status
pending
Recommendation 10
To better assist people experiencing unsheltered homelessness, San Diego should, by September 2024, develop performance measures to evaluate the effects of the city’s public health and safety programs related to unsheltered homelessness listed in Table 7. An example of such a performance measure is a reduction in the number of public health incidents occurring at encampments. San Diego should publicly report on the effects of its actions.
Status
pending
Recommendation 11
By September 2024, San Diego should develop plans for siting and building the permanent housing it has identified that it needs for people experiencing homelessness. The plans should specify the amount of funding necessary to build the housing, as well as possible funding sources.
Status
pending
