Kiley, Jones announce audit request of homelessness spending

Assemblyman Kevin Kiley (R-Rocklin) and Senator Brian Jones (R-Santee) announced Jan. 14 that they have requested a statewide audit of homelessness spending in California. Joining them as coauthors on the request are Assemblymembers Phillip Chen, Steven Choi, James Gallagher, Tom Lackey and Jay Obernolte. "The Governor is approaching our homelessness crisis with the sense of urgency it requires, but it's important that we do not measure success just by how many dollars we spend," Kiley said. "Billions have been spent in recent years, yet people are not getting the help they need and the problem continues to grow. For the Governor's proposed investments to make a difference, we need a much better understanding of what is and is not working in our use of existing resources." This week the Governor's homelessness taskforce led by Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg and Los Angeles County Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas recognized the need to evaluate past and current spending citing, "In order to expand access to mental health and substance abuse treatment for individuals experiencing homelessness, the state should work in tandem with counties to ensure that existing funding, funding proposed in the Governor's budget, and proposed Medi-Cal reforms align with the state's goals to improve access to treatment." "Solving this dire crisis will definitely take aggressive funding, but simply throwing money at the problem is not a smart solution," Jones said. "We need to ensure taxpayers' hard-earned dollars are being spent wisely and used effectively. This audit is necessary and will show us what's working - and what's not working - so we can make informed decisions moving forward that will actually help us start making a dent in the problem." Assemblyman Kevin Kiley represents the 6th Assembly District, which includes the Sacramento, Placer, and El Dorado County communities of Cameron Park, El Dorado Hills, Fair Oaks, Folsom, Granite Bay, Lincoln, Loomis, Orangevale, Penryn, Rocklin, Roseville, and Sheridan.