Funding for the grants comes from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The grants’ purpose is to eliminate homelessness by assisting individuals and families to achieve independence through rapid rehousing assistance, emergency shelters, street outreach, counseling, substance abuse treatment, and job training.
The County of Orange will receive $605,188 and the County of San Diego will receive $453,822 to fund various activities related to homelessness.
Senator Bates has long engaged in efforts to reduce homelessness through a variety of approaches such as:
- Co-authoring AB 448 (Daly, 2018) to establish the Orange County Housing Finance Trust, which is a public-private effort to reduce homelessness by developing permanent supportive housing. Governor Brown signed this bill into law.
- Authored SB 486 this year to end “patient brokering” in recovery residences, where men and women with addiction issues in other states have been recruited to California facilities through offers of free travel, rent, cigarettes, and even manicures. Upon arrival to the treatment facilities and sober living homes, the patients frequently find they have been deceived, and are merely pawns in a profit scheme, resulting in chronic relapses, overdoses, and their release into local communities. The bill is currently pending in the Legislature.
- Authored SB 392 in 2017 that would have provided grants to non-profit organizations that assist individuals receiving CalWORKs benefits in achieving economic independence and required that such organizations maintain a sober environment for the people they serve. SB 392 failed to advance from the State Assembly.
- Supported the “No Place Like Home” legislation in 2016 (AB 1618) to provide $2 billion for the housing and treatment of Californians with mental illness. The plan – signed by Governor Brown – includes funding negotiated by Republicans to help homeless youth and veterans, along with accountability measures to ensure funds are spent properly. The funds come from Proposition 63, which was passed by voters in 2004 to provide treatment for people with mental illness.
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Senator Patricia Bates (R-Laguna Niguel) represents the 36th Senate District in the California Legislature, which covers South Orange County, North San Diego County, and Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton. Click here to download her official Senate photo.