New Ways Needed to Aid Homeless, Deukmejian Says

Gov. George Deukmejian said Saturday that California “has a responsibility” to help its homeless citizens but needs “new ideas” of ways to aid them.

Discussing the plight of the homeless in his weekly radio address, Deukmejian said the state has increased spending to provide shelters, counseling and loans for people who have no homes.

“It is a perplexing problem, because there are many reasons for homelessness and no simple answers,” the governor said.

The Republican governor has been criticized for not doing enough to help those who sleep in the streets and vacant lots of many California communities.

Last year, Deukmejian vetoed legislation that would have provided transitional housing for the homeless.

“These needs can best be provided for at the local level and with the cooperation of federal and state agencies,” an Administration task force concluded last April.

After the governor’s five-minute radio talk, Assemblyman Gray Davis (D-Los Angeles), who chairs the Assembly Housing and Community Development Committee, said he hoped Deukmejian “is signaling a new willingness to assist the homeless.”

“The Administration has done the bare minimum and certainly isn’t offering leadership on this issue,” Davis said in an interview. “There have been no initiatives and no new ideas coming out of the Administration.”

Deukmejian cited estimates that there are between 50,000 and 70,000 people in California who have no place to live. The state Senate Office of Research has estimated there are at least 55,000 to 100,000 homeless in California and perhaps as many as 250,000.

Statewide, about one third of the homeless are veterans of military service, Davis said. Between 30% and 40% of the homeless suffer some form of mental illness, he added.

For the first time, Deukmejian said in his radio address, he has approved legislation to give $20 million in mental health funds to the counties for programs to help the homeless. Deukmejian also noted that he signed legislation creating an emergency shelter program and that he has approved a 25% increase in funds to help supply housing for the homeless.

“While more shelter and more money for local communities will go a long way to help the homeless, we need something else as well,” Deukmejian said. “We need new ideas, especially from citizens at the local level who are closest to the problem.”

Repeating his election-year theme that California is the “leadership state,” Deukmejian said, “The leadership state has a responsibility to help these people--and we are.”

But Davis countered: “Leadership should come from the top as well as the Legislature and the private sector. California is a big, rich state with a billion-dollar surplus. Certainly we can provide everyone with a roof over their head.”