DATE:
November 18th, 2025
22
TO:
Board of Supervisors
SUBJECT
Title
TRANSPARENCY AND ACCOUNTABILITY AUDIT OF HOMELESSNESS SPENDING REGIONWIDE (DISTRICTS: ALL)
Body
OVERVIEW
Over the past decade, homelessness across California has grown into a humanitarian, public health, and fiscal crisis. While taxpayers have invested billions of dollars in programs, the results have been deeply inadequate: more people are living on the streets, shelters are strained, and the public has lost confidence in government's ability to address this issue effectively.
The County of San Diego has taken important steps to improve transparency in its homelessness response. In early 2026, the County will launch a public-facing dashboard displaying key data such as the number of homeless individuals in the unincorporated area and participation levels in County programs. These efforts have contributed to measurable progress, including an 11 percent reduction in homelessness in the unincorporated area, as reflected in the most recent Point-in-Time Count.
However, homelessness is a regional challenge that demands regional accountability. Without greater transparency in how homelessness dollars are spent across jurisdictions, taxpayers will continue to lose faith, and lives will continue to be lost on our streets. This is unacceptable.
Recent state audits have revealed major deficiencies in how funds are tracked, measured, and evaluated. Between 2018 and 2023, more than $24 billion in state homelessness funding was spent without consistent statewide tracking of outcomes or effectiveness. The California State Auditor concluded that the lack of oversight, transparency, and measurable outcomes is preventing meaningful progress.
Taxpayers are being asked to sustain an ever-expanding bureaucracy without clear performance metrics, accountability, or tangible results-failing both the public and those most in need of support.
Today's action directs the Chief Administrative Officer (CAO) to ...
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