BAKERSFIELD, Calif. (KERO) — New tool that will help counties conquer homelessness, housing & behavior health issues.
- The new tool is a website that allows communities members and government officials to view the positive and negative facts about their cities.
- Governor Newsom wants to clear the streets of homeless, and lower the numbers throughout California.
- In 2024 Kern County has seen numbers close to 2500 residents who are apart of their homeless population.
BROADCAST TRANSCRIPT:
Kern County and local cites have received millions of dollars in state funding to address the homelessness issues in their communities. I'm Eric J. Dockery your Bakersfield neighborhood reporter. Now, Governor Newsom has created a service to hold local government officials accountable if they fail to make progress.
On Tuesday February 24, Governor Newsom addressed the state about this new accountability tool his administration has been working on for a few months. This tool allows you to find data on housing, behavioral health and homelessness.
Carlos Valdovinos Executive Director at the Mission of Kern County said "Kern County is local to us, we can see how we are tracking with homelessness. What are we doing, how many housing units are being built, and how many people are sheltered or unsheltered. It gives a merit of numbers, and subjects that we can actually dive into."
Kern County has received a total of five HHAP grants in a total of 43,700,431.47
For the fiscal year of 2024-2025, the city of Bakersfield has received $5.6 million in state funding from the homeless housing assistance and prevention also know as (HHAP). Joe Conroy the Public Information Officer of the City of Bakersfield tells me " The city received that money , and then allocated it to their partners for programs and projects as needed."
Valdovinos said "For example, the Mission at Kern County we house between all of our programs men, women, unaccompanied women with kids, between all of our campus around 300 people per night on a nightly bases. We are also providing meals, and wrap around support services."
The City of Bakersfield has surpassed 1000 residents who are homeless with data that was collected since 2024. The city has also had a 37% increase in its homeless population according to last year's homeless count.
"Obviously its been a increase from a merit of issues right we've had Covid. If you look at the last five years, that's when we were at the Covid crisis. You've had a lot of things that influxes during that season. I honestly believe the affordable housing; we are not there yet. We are behind schedule if you look in comparison to other municipalities across the state." said Valdovinos
Newsom wants to see results. He understands the public's concerns when it comes to their tax dollars when it comes to homelessness. He also hopes this accountability website will help cities clean up their streets. For 23ABC I'm Eric J. Dockery your Bakersfield neighborhood reporter.
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