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Bakersfield, California – Bakersfield had the lowest homeless rate among the 11 largest cities in the country. However, Bakersfield is the ninth largest city in California.

Mayor Karen Goh is still worried about the issue and calls homelessness a crisis. She said the crisis is all over the United States. This is especially up and down the west coast, as cities like Los Angeles and Seattle struggle to handle their growing populations.

In 2017, California’s homeless population number equals 134000. The biggest factor causing homelessness is the lack of affordable housing, according to the assistant legislative director at the League of California Cities.

The state is taking actions to resolve the homelessness issue. $500 million of the state budget is going to be addressed to the homelessness crisis. California will spread this money across many cities throughout the state.

According to the state initiative, each city will be allocated an amount based on how many people are outdoor on one particular night.  $3.8 million will be allocated for Bakersfield. This reflects the fact that Bakersfield has a lower homeless population than other major California cities. While lower, it isn’t zero, so the city will still have use for the money.

How will Bakersfield use the homeless fund money?

The money that the city will get will be used for emergency temporary shelters. But the program aims at providing permanent, sustainable housing.

The state program will take people off the streets and house them immediately. The money is allocated on the emergency basis.

As some rumors whisper, the homeless people are coming from larger cities, such as San Francisco and Los Angeles.

City officials, police and fire chiefs are involved in this program. A variety of different city-level agencies will collaborate with the state agency in order to spend the money properly.