URGENT NEED FOR INNOVATIVE POLICY TO ADDRESS CALIFORNIA’S HOMELESSNESS
(Inaugural Episode: September 2024)
SLING NEWS (California): In the inaugural episode aired in September 2024, Mayor Phil Brock and Reverend Christy Webb deliver a compelling critique of Santa Monica as a microcosm of statewide challenges. With over 187,000 individuals unhoused, California’s situation is not merely alarming—it is symptomatic of persistent policy failures and a fragmented response from government institutions. Santa Monica’s modest but significant rise in homelessness has spurred the adoption of stricter ordinances, but such reactive measures do little more than shift the problem out of sight, failing to address root causes such as unaffordable housing, inadequate mental health services, and stagnant wages.
The ongoing stalemate over affordable housing proposals exemplifies the paralyzing effect of political gridlock, preventing the implementation of transformative policy solutions. Local initiatives that offer transportation or connect individuals to social services provide only temporary relief and cannot substitute for comprehensive reform. Public exasperation, therefore, reflects not just frustration with visible homelessness but a deepening mistrust in public institutions’ ability to enact meaningful change. At the same time, the homeless services sector is chronically underfunded, plagued by staff instability, and stymied by political inertia—urgent, innovative policy intervention is essential if California is to reverse these entrenched trends and achieve lasting progress.
Sling Digital – Fall 2024-2025
Copyright 2017-2026 ©Havah House Co. Policy Terms: the content of this website is a work of authorship and an intellectual property of Havah House Co. No portion of its content may be performed, reproduced, or used by any means, or disclosed to, quoted, or published in any medium without the consent of the owner.