California plans to free up existing state funding for homeless housing that requires residents to be sober, shifting away from a strict “housing first” model and toward recovery and intervention.
Assembly Bill 1556, authored by Assemblyman Matt Haney and signed on Sept. 29 by Gov. Gavin Newsom, clarifies that sober housing providers are eligible for state funding as long as they follow a set of requirements.
For many years, California focused on a housing first policy to quickly connect homeless individuals with housing units, according to an Aug. 3 Assembly Floor bill analysis. This low-barrier approach means that individuals entering these shelters did not need to meet certain criteria, such as getting sober or drug-free….