California homelessness ‘at crisis level’ says Ben Carson
Housing and Urban Development Secretary Ben Carson called out California on Friday for its failure to reduce homelessness despite a nationwide decrease in homelessness.
Rising homelessness in places like California and Oregon threw off other states’ improved numbers, leading to an overall increase in homelessness of 2.7 percent in 2019, according to HUD. Homelessness in California increased by 16.4 percent this year — more than the total national increase of every other state combined.
Carson wants solutions that address the root causes of homelessness instead of just throwing money at the problem.
“That means taking people off the street and putting them in a location that is safe, but also a location in which we can provide some of the wraparound services because [it’s] not just a matter of getting them off the street,” Carson told FOX Business’ Liz MacDonald earlier in December. “It’s a matter of figuring out why you’re on the street in the first place.”
