An extra $10 million for homeless youth services has been included in the state budget following requests for increased funding in the field from Assemblyman Todd Gloria, D-San Diego.

He said there’s been some areas of improvement on homelessness — the number of homeless veterans in San Diego County has dropped according to the latest annual count, for example.

“But we are not seeing similar downward pressure on homeless youth numbers,” Gloria said Thursday. “In fact, those numbers are going up.”

Gloria said the latest statewide count of homeless youth show an increase of 7 percent, and the latest count in San Diego showed homeless youths made up 19 percent of the county’s homeless population.


In reality, the number could be even higher. People who work in the field have said it is difficult to accurately gauge the number of homeless youth because they tend to shy away from shelters and often are not recognized as being homeless.

Gloria said the state’s current allocation for homeless youth service is just $2 million and is not from a dedicated funding source.

While $10 million isn’t much considering the size of the state, Gloria said he hopes the money will be leveraged and help align programs with best practices and create models that can be replicated.

San Diego is expected to receive $2.5 million for homeless youth services. The Legislature is scheduled to consider the 2017-18 budget later on Thursday.


Gloria also is the author of Assembly Bill 1406, which seeks to expand the state’s investment in homeless youth services by establishing the Homeless Youth Housing Program. The program would provide grant funding to local planning continuums, governments and community-based organizations that focus on ending youth homelessness.

AB 1406 was passed by the Assembly on May 31 and is in the state Senate for consideration.

Since arriving in Sacramento as a new Assembly member following last November’s election, Gloria said he has found legislators throughout the state, including in rural areas, are taking homelessness seriously.

He also said approaching the problem incrementally can lead to successful results, as demonstrated when efforts were made to in helping homeless veterans.


gary.warth@sduniontribune.com

Twitter: @GaryWarthUT

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