SAN DIEGO — California leaders took part in a fierce debate Friday on how best to solve the homelessness crisis facing San Diego
A group of San Diego County leaders expressed frustration at not only the homelessness crisis, but they voiced concerns over the main method being employed to address the problem by the state and federal government.
In fact, it was the chief complaint Friday and Supervisor Desmond as well as others said this press conference was a message to the citizens as to why they believe Housing First is failing.
They claim it’s the only tool in the toolbox that can receive federal and state dollars. They criticized that it doesn’t require sobriety or mental health treatment for housing.
They used the nonprofit Solutions For Change as an example. They cannot access state and federal funds that they used to because of the adoption of Housing First.
Solutions for Change is a program that requires sobriety, and they work to help homeless individuals get into housing and back on their feet.
Ryan Clumpner, the Vice Chair of the San Diego Housing Commission, was present in the crowd Friday. He claims the group putting on the presentation didn’t present the whole picture, and he said that Housing First does achieve its goal.
According to the San Diego Housing Commission and Housing First website, they’ve created nearly 10,000 housing solutions since 2014.