Twenty Years of Failure — It’s Time for Real Solutions

Media
14 hours ago
2 min read

Governor Gavin Newsom just made one of the most reckless decisions yet on homelessness in California. He vetoed a bipartisan bill that would have allowed cities to use just 10% of state homelessness dollars to support sober living and recovery housing — real solutions that help people rebuild their lives.

For more than 20 years, Sacramento has doubled down on a broken strategy. Back in 2004, when Newsom was Mayor of San Francisco, he promised to end homelessness in 10 years.

Two decades and $24 billion later, California’s homeless population is at an all-time high. The only thing that’s grown faster than the problem is the number of well-funded NGOs profiting off human suffering.

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The state has forced a one-size-fits-all “Housing First” model — allowing people to continue using meth, fentanyl, and other drugs while in taxpayer-funded housing. This might make for good talking points in Sacramento, but it does nothing to help people get sober, rebuild their dignity, or reclaim their lives. In San Francisco, where Housing First has been the law of the land, overdoses inside taxpayer-funded housing are a tragic, routine occurrence.

Recovery housing takes a different approach. It provides support, accountability, and community. It sets the expectation of sobriety — not to punish, but to help people stand again. Decades of research show that abstinence-based programs lead to higher rates of recovery, employment, and stability. It’s common sense.

The Governor’s veto isn’t compassionate — it’s cruel. It keeps vulnerable people trapped in addiction, while politicians and bureaucrats pat themselves on the back. California’s homelessness crisis isn’t just a policy failure — it’s a moral one.

We need to return to solutions that treat people as human beings, not statistics. Real dignity comes from helping people get well, not leaving them to slowly die on our sidewalks.