A new law in California could help the state curb the violence in its homeless shelters.
On September 29, Governor Gavin Newsom signed Assembly Bill 362, requiring cities and counties to investigate abuse claims within the city’s homeless shelters. Cities and counties are also empowered to issue emergency directives to force shelter operators to comply with local codes and ordinances and resolve any violations.
Entities found in violation of the law can have their state funding reduced or eliminated in some instances. The bill also requires shelter operators to submit an annual report to the state by April 1 containing information about:
- Pending uncorrected violations
- A list of emergency orders issued
- A list of any owners or operators who received three or more violations within any 6-month period
The bill was sponsored by Assemblywoman Sharon Quirk-Silva (D-Fullerton).
“We can’t nibble around the edges of the homelessness crisis. We need to implement bold, transformative solutions – investing more money than ever before to get folks off the street and provide the mental health and other services they need to stay off the streets,” Newsom said.
Assemblywoman Quirk-Silva added: “Protecting California’s most vulnerable community members, such as those who are homeless or at risk of losing their homes, is vital.”
Violence in California Shelters
Violence and unsanitary conditions are nothing new in many of California’s homeless shelters. They are two of the main reasons why people experiencing homelessness avoid shelters. And it’s a problem that local regulators have let fester like an open sore.
A report from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) in 2019 found that shelter conditions in Orange County “fail to conform to standards set forth by international human rights law, which establish the minimum standard of living adequate for health and well-being.”
The year-long investigation concluded that three shelters had “toxic and unsafe conditions” such as having too few toilets for the number of guests and infestations of “rodents, maggots, and other pests.”
In response to the report, Orange County officials said at the time that they were “committed to ensuring our emergency shelters are safe for all our clients.”
However, the group filed a lawsuit filed in December 2020 that alleges the problems it identified persist. According to a report by the Los Angeles Times, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of 11 shelter residents who say they experienced “sexual abuse, rampant rodent and bedbug infestations, broken toilets and showers and extreme temperatures” at the shelters.
Orange County and the City of Anaheim are named defendants on the lawsuit alongside shelter operators Illumination Foundation, Midnight Mission, and Mercy House Living Centers & Protection America.
‘A New Era of Accountability’
Some of the new law’s supporters argue that it will usher in a “new era of accountability” for local homeless shelter operators.
Rubi Gomez and Shannon Kitchell, two graduate students at the University of California, Irvine, described AB362 in an article for the Voice of OC as “a step in the right direction for our unhoused neighbors, friends, and family members who often weather it alone due to stigma – because no one ever thinks they will end up unhoused.”
The duo adds that the bill could help break the traumatic cycle of homelessness for many people who have experienced chronic homelessness because it would guarantee them access to safe and sanitary housing.
Callie Ritter said shelters are often the worst place to be for sick people. Ritter is a formerly homeless individual and current co-operator of the nonprofit Stronger Women United. She told Gomez and Kitchell about her experience going through radiation therapy for lung cancer while staying in a shelter.
“Going through chemo and radiation, I got sick in my bed, and we weren’t allowed to clean up our areas. It took two weeks for staff to provide me with a trash can that I could use to be sick in during my treatment. I can’t believe I made it [through] during that time,” Ritter said.
Urgent Need for Housing
While lawmakers work on ways to better regulate homeless shelter operations, the urgent need for housing in California is worsening.
According to a housing market forecast, the average price of a single unit home is expected to increase by more than 20% in total before 2021 is over and by another 5.6% next year. The average price of a single unit home could reach $834,000, the report says.
At the same time, the state’s housing affordability index is expected to drop to 23% in 2022. For comparison, affordable markets are ranked at 100%. This means that the average salary in California is 77% less than what’s necessary to afford a median-priced home.
How You Can Help
Now is not the time to be silent about homelessness in California or anywhere else. People who must sleep in shelters deserve safe and sanitary housing just as much as those who can afford rent or mortgage.
Poverty and homelessness are both policy choices, not personal failures. That’s why we need you to contact your officials and tell them you support legislation that:
- Streamlines the development of affordable housing
- Reduces barriers for people experiencing homelessness to enter permanent housing
- Bolsters government response to homelessness
Together, we can end homelessness.
