California AB 362: Homeless Shelter Safety Regulations Analysis

Introduction

Today, there are more than 5.5 million homeless people in the United States (The State of Homelessness in America, 2021), and tens of thousands of these individuals are living on the streets in California despite increasingly aggressive attempts by the state government to provide effective solutions to this chronic problem. The purpose of this paper is to provide an overview of a current health problem affecting the State of California that is being addressed by a proposed law, AB 362, and how this new law would address the problem of homelessness in the state today and in the future.

An assessment of the severity of the health problems associated with California's homeless population is followed by an overview of AB 362, as amended (hereinafter alternatively "the bill"), and the respective stakeholders potentially affected by it should it become law. Further, an examination of the promises included in the bill and its corresponding expected outcomes is followed by a discussion of the problems arrayed against the bill's passage and implementation, as well as a description of potential unintended consequences from a public health perspective. The paper concludes with a series of recommendations based on the foregoing research and findings.

Overview of the Health Problem

Although precise figures are unavailable, most current estimates indicate that California's homeless problem is among the most severe in the United States today, accounting for a significant percentage of the nation's total homeless population. For example, according to Elias (2021), "No one knows precisely how many of the state's approximately 161,000 homeless prefer to keep sleeping in tents and under tarps, as about two-thirds of the California homeless do each night" (para. 3). California's mild climate allows this type of unsheltered homelessness to proliferate even where local ordinances prohibit such encampments.

California's homeless population suffers from many, if not all, of the same health problems as homeless populations in other states, including respiratory ailments, poor nutrition, dermatological conditions, mental health issues, and substance abuse problems (Alarcon & Tipu, 2020). Some of these conditions are moderated only in part by the state's more temperate climate relative to most other states. Notwithstanding this mediating factor, the homeless people living in California face a wide range of health problems that have a severe effect on their well-being, as discussed further below.

Severity of the Health Problem

Living on the streets with little or no ready access to hygienic facilities, poor nutrition, and exposure to the elements will likely exacerbate any preexisting health problems as well as cause a multitude of new ones. In this regard, Alarcon and Tipu (2020) emphasize that "People experiencing homelessness suffer from a risk of mortality three to four times that of the general population and are at high risk for contracting severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 and for developing Covid-19 because of underlying comorbidities [including] lung disease and immunocompromised states" (p. 37). In other words, there are virtually no health problems that homelessness does not exacerbate, and the harsh conditions of homelessness can generate a wide array of physical and mental health conditions that were not previously present. Against this backdrop, it might appear reasonable to suggest that anything that could alleviate this suffering would receive widespread public support — but this is not exactly the case with the bill, as noted below.

In the broadest sense, the stakeholders potentially affected — directly or indirectly — by the bill include not only the targeted homeless population of California, but neighboring states and even the entire American taxpaying public as well. California's multi-trillion-dollar budget is the largest in the country, and it is reasonable to posit that disruptions to the state's budget for any reason will have nationwide and even global implications. These issues mean that California lawmakers are already hard-pressed to identify viable and timely solutions to the state's homelessness problem, yet more than two-thirds (66%) of California taxpayers believe that the hundreds of millions of dollars already being spent on this problem have been used ineffectively (Roberts, 2019).

Overview of the Bill and Stakeholders

At present, California maintains a network of 691 homeless shelters that employ around 15,000 people who earn in excess of $1 billion, with assets of approximately $2 billion (California Homeless Shelters, 2021). The network of homeless shelters is primarily concentrated in major urban areas, as set forth in Table 1 below.

Table 1: Five Most Populated Homeless Shelter Markets in California by City

Source: California Homeless Shelters, 2021

It is noteworthy that there are significant differences in revenues generated by San Francisco's 86 shelters compared to Los Angeles's 270 shelters, with the former earning approximately $33 million more than the latter despite operating only about 32% as many homeless facilities. Irrespective of the metro area involved, the stakes are high for lawmakers, taxpayers, and the homeless alike in California today. It is little wonder, then, that a majority of California taxpayers have grown increasingly frustrated with the state's efforts to address this problem from a humanitarian perspective.

On a far more superficial note, anecdotal reports indicate that the state's homelessness problem is also driving some affluent taxpayers to relocate to other states simply because they dislike seeing homeless individuals in public spaces. For instance, candidate in California's gubernatorial race, Caitlyn Jenner, noted in a televised interview with Fox News's Sean Hannity: "My friends are leaving California. I said, 'Where are you going?' And he says, 'I'm moving to Sedona, Arizona, I can't take it here anymore. I can't walk down the street and see the homeless'" (as cited in Pitofsky, 2021, para. 4). Notwithstanding the fact that this interview took place in a private airplane hangar largely reserved for the ultrawealthy, these sentiments are likely echoed throughout much of the state's taxpaying population, which is weary of spending more money on a problem that seems to grow worse.

The main provisions of the bill are broad-based, but all carry a primary focus on the health and safety standards applied to homeless facilities in the state. In sum, if passed, the bill would:

In addition to the foregoing provisions, the bill includes provisions for the reimbursement of costs incurred as a result of its passage, implementation, and administration to local agencies and school districts, as mandated by the state's constitution (AB-362 Homeless Shelters: Safety Regulations, 2021–2022). Taken together, these provisions represent a reasonable attempt to ensure the safety and welfare of homeless people living in California's network of community-based shelters. While these outcomes may not appear life-changing for most average Californians, they represent an important initiative that will directly assist the tens of thousands of homeless individuals currently residing in the state.