SACRAMENTO — Gov. Gavin Newsom has abandoned a campaign promise to appoint the state’s first homelessness czar and will instead rely on a task force and staff members to guide his response to the growing crisis in California.

During his 2018 campaign for governor, Newsom said he would hire a “Cabinet-level secretary committed to solving the issue, not just managing it.”

But at an event Tuesday, Newsom told reporters that he was instead consulting with a homelessness task force that he announced in February, led by Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas.

“To me it’s a distinction that is insignificant. They’re profoundly influential to me, de facto Cabinet members,” Newsom said, according to the Sacramento Bee. “They have complete, universal access to me — more than, I would argue, even Cabinet members.”

Newsom said in February that the task force would “focus on prevention, rapid rehousing, mental health and more permanent supportive housing,” but also said he still planned to appoint a homelessness secretary. When he revealed the members of the advisory committee in May, he also named a mental health czar to reorganize California’s system of mental health services.

Nathan Click, a spokesman for Newsom, said the leadership in the governor’s office remains focused on dealing with homelessness.

He pointed to a major increase in spending in the state budget, including $650 million for cities and counties to combat homelessness, and $120 million for programs that offer supportive housing and other coordinated services for homeless people. Newsom also championed a new law that eliminates the public’s ability to challenge the approval of new navigation centers if they meet local zoning and design requirements.

“He has a number of top advisers working on this issue,” Click said. He did not explain why Newsom had shifted strategies.

A biennial count of the homeless population that took place across the state earlier this year found a severe problem that is only worsening, with double-digit increases everywhere from the Bay Area to Bakersfield.

San Francisco reported that the number of people sleeping on the street or in their vehicles increased by 17% since 2017, to 8,011.

Alexei Koseff is a San Francisco Chronicle staff writer. Email: alexei.koseff@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @akoseff