"As California spends unprecedented billions of dollars to bring homeless people off the street, state lawmakers quietly approved new rules this summer requiring local governments to complete annual health and safety inspections of all publicly funded homeless shelters and report the results. If cities and counties fail to take steps to fix problems identified at local shelters or decline to submit the mandated reports, they could lose funding or face civil lawsuits from the state."
"Assemblymember Sharon Quirk-Silva, a Democrat representing Los Angeles and Orange counties, pushed for the inspection requirements after reading news stories and an American Civil Liberties Union investigation that found reports of violence, sexual harassment, maggot infestations, overflowing sewage and other serious problems at shelters in her district. "We saw a lack of effort at first with even considering building shelters, and now that we have them, the next step is, how do we enforce the best-case scenario for those who are living there?" Quirk-Silva said."
California approved rules requiring annual health and safety inspections and mandatory reporting for all publicly funded homeless shelters. Local governments that fail to fix identified problems or omit reports risk losing funding or facing state civil lawsuits. Shelters commonly suffer substandard conditions, staffing shortages, and difficulties serving residents with mental health and addiction issues. Reports and investigations cited violence, sexual harassment, infestations, overflowing sewage and other serious problems. Shelter capacity has increased more than 70% to about 76,000 year-round beds, but capacity remains far short of need amid a severe affordable housing shortage and an estimated 187,000 homeless residents.
Read at The Mercury News
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