FEMA trailers to be distributed to homeless people throughout California, Gov. Newsom says
LOS ANGELES (KABC) -- Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday announced details of how California will distribute 100 Federal Emergency Management Agency trailers throughout the state as part of an ongoing effort to address the homeless crisis.
Newsom discussed the move at a news conference in Riverside during his Southland visit to promote his billion-dollar plan to deal with homelessness.
"We're bringing out medical units and tents that we use in post-disasters," he said.
Fifty-eight trailers are currently available and 42 others, which are currently occupied by victims of the Camp Fire, will be vacated soon, the governor said.
California officials have identified 1,330 parcels of vacant state land, according to Newsom, 100 of which are being immediately transferred to local authorities to make sites available to park those trailers.
Tuesday's visit also included a stop in Los Angeles. The governor is meeting with people experiencing homelessness and providers who work to house and assist them.
While in Riverside, Newsom stopped at an emergency shelter and the city's Access Center, which provides services to the homeless, including outreach, housing placement, employment development, and homeless prevention resources.
"This is a crisis," he said, "this is unacceptable, everybody has the right to be angry and concerned."
Newsom went to Los Angeles to meet with staff and residents at a board and care home.
The governor promised an immediate and massive amount of homelessness funding heading to Southern California.
"In the next few weeks, this city and the immediate region in and around Los Angeles is going to receive a quarter of a billion dollars," Newsom said while addressing the homeless crisis at the Harvard Heights board and care facility.
MORE: Gov. Gavin Newsom seeks $750 million in state budget proposal to help pay rent for homeless
The governor started the weeklong tour Monday at Nevada County's Homeless Outreach and Medical Engagement project with Republican state lawmaker Megan Dahle, who represents the state's 1st District.
Newsom has faced criticism from President Donald Trump over his efforts to address homelessness.
Newsom will also make trips to the Central Valley and Bay Area later in the week.
An advisory council appointed by the governor is calling for voters to consider a legally enforceable mandate to end homelessness. The group wants lawmakers to put a constitutional amendment on the November ballot giving governments one year to find solutions to the homeless crisis.
After that, a judge could require jurisdictions to do whatever it takes to end homelessness, although it is not clear what that entails.
The tour comes after the release of Newsom's state budget proposal.
In the budget proposal, he requests more than $1 billion to fight homelessness with $750 million of that for temporary housing and help get people off the streets. The governor also wants to transform Medi-Cal, getting health care providers to start integrating physical and behavioral health in their services.
A report by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development found California's homeless population increased 16 percent last year, to about 151,000 people. That's more than a quarter of the national total.
