Standing with San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie on Friday, Newsom unveiled $419 million in state grants for San Francisco, Los Angeles and San Diego to expand homelessness prevention and treatment efforts.
"We are seeing real progress, and we are investing in what we know works," Newsom said.
The Governor's claim - that the number of people living on the streets dropped 9% in the last year - is based on a combination of data from dozens of state agencies and the 2024 federal Point in Time (PIT) count.
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The 2025 federal PIT numbers have not yet been publicly released, meaning it's unclear whether the state's figure reflects the full picture. The governor acknowledged the limitations of the PIT count, which can vary widely based on volunteer turnout and weather conditions.
"It's an imperfect process... but nor am I naive about the progress that you're seeing in cities like San Francisco. It's real," Newsom said, nodding toward Lurie.
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San Francisco will receive $40 million from the state's Homelessness Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program, which is tied to new accountability requirements. When asked how the state is measuring success, the governor pointed to changes in eligibility requirements, a public website tracking state dollars towards these initiatives, and new rules requiring counties to have a single plan for integrating funding.
To qualify for HHAP funds, jurisdictions must meet certain policy benchmarks, including: deadlines for spending state dollars, stricter rules for clearing encampments and limits on building new forms of interim housing.
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Mayor Lurie talks affordability, homelessness in SF
In an interview on ABC7's Midday Live, Lurie said San Francisco's strategy must include multiple types of shelter and care.
"We're also, as a city, focusing on building up other kinds of beds to augment those shelter beds - like recovery and treatment beds," Lurie said. "We've set up 600 of those beds this past year because those people that we see struggling with addiction... you can't just put them into a shelter and think that they're going to be okay."
While Newsom highlighted the influx of funding, the longterm outlook for state homelessness spending remains uncertain. Lawmakers did not include new ongoing state dollars for homelessness programs in the 2025-26 budget, leaving cities unsure how future services will be sustained.