Testimony to the California State Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee

On February 26, 2026, Deputy Director of Research Ryan Finnigan testified to the California State Senate Budget and Fiscal Review Subcommittee on State Administration and General Government.

Access the Hearing Agenda | See Ryan’s Presentation

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Ryan provided a current look at homelessness in California and efforts to address it. He presented trends in recent data and findings from Terner Center research with implications for the State’s continued investments to prevent and end homelessness. In response to questions shared by the Subcommittee, Ryan addressed four main topics. 

First, homelessness remains high in California. California’s homelessness rate is more than double the national rate, coinciding with the state’s ongoing shortage of housing affordable for households with low incomes. A Pprevious Terner Center analysis has shown that homelessness is a statewide challenge, cutting across large cities, suburbs, and rural communities. Two-thirds of people experiencing homelessness in California in 2024 are unsheltered, meaning that they sleep in tents, in vehicles, or on the street. However, the share of unsheltered homelessness has declined as shelter and transitional housing programs have grown, dropping from 72 percent in 2019. 

Second, the capacity of homelessness service, shelter, and housing programs has continued to grow. Terner Center research has repeatedly found that state investments have been key, including programs like the Homeless Housing, Assistance, and Prevention (HHAP) Program, Homekey, and California Advancing and Innovating Medi-Cal (CalAIM). When homelessness programs are sufficiently resourced, coordinated, and tailored to people’s needs, substantial progress can be made: between 2019 and 2024, homelessness declined by 24 percent among youth (under age 25) and 15 percent among veterans.

Third, substantial challenges remain for meeting people’s needs and doing so equitably. Affordable housing and health and social services remain scarce relative to the level of need, and these systems must continue breaking down their silos to serve people with complex needs effectively. Stark racial/ethnic disparities in homelessness persist, created and maintained by systemic racism and other structural barriers faced by Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color. To remedy these disparities, there must be concerted efforts to advance equity both within homelessness and housing programs and the upstream conditions that heighten housing instability and homelessness for communities of color in the first place.

Fourth, potential losses of federal housing assistance threaten the stability of thousands of Californians. Recent Terner Center analyses have shown how changes to federal funding or policies could impact about 14,000 families housed with Emergency Housing Vouchers, 32,000 people housed through the Continuum of Care grant program, and 7,200 families with mixed immigration statuses housed with vouchers or in public housing. Should thousands of families lose federal housing assistance, the need for state resources will only grow. 

Although California’s homelessness crisis endures, the data show that progress is being made. Hundreds of people successfully exit homelessness each day. That progress is only possible with resources from all levels of government, and sustained investments are necessary to ultimately resolve the crisis.