California launches 3-year action plan to prevent and end homelessness

Last Updated on March 17, 2025 by The HD Post Staff

CALIFORNIA – The California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) announced, March 12, a three-year plan that addresses one of the state’s most urgent crises – homelessness.

According to the 2024 Point-in-Time (PIT) Count, over 187,000 people experience homelessness in California on a given night, representing a 3% increase from 2023 — a lower increase than seen nationally.

Those accessing homelessness services in 2023 were four times more likely to identify as Black.

Cal ICH said the plan builds on the $40 billion invested in housing and $27 billion provided to communities to prevent and end homelessness.

Five goals to end homelessness

The 2025-2027 Action Plan has five main goals to help more people in California get homes and stay off the streets:

Help more people leave unsheltered homelessness
Help more people move into housing
Ensure people do not experience homelessness again
Prevent more people from experiencing homelessness
Create more housing

To create more housing, the plan is to permit more than 1.5 million homes, with no less than 710,000 of those meeting the needs of low- and very low income households.

Stricter accountability measures

Governor Gavin Newsom has recently emphasized the need for accountability across all levels of government in addressing homelessness.

These accountability measures put more focus on clearing homeless camps, making sure cities follow housing rules to get future funding, and requiring groups to use up old funds before getting new ones.

Newsom’s 2025-2026 budget plan calls for stricter rules when giving out state money.

Cities must follow housing laws, pro-housing areas get priority, and the state can take back money if there’s no progress.

To read the full report visit https://www.bcsh.ca.gov/calich/documents/action_plan_2025-2027.pdf