Senator Wiener’s Statement on Homeless Youth Funding in Senate’s $5 Billion Housing Budget Proposal

Sacramento–  Today, Senator Scott Wiener (D-San Francisco) released the following statement after members of the State Senate announced a $5 billion housing budget proposal that  includes funding for youth homelessness proposed in Senate Bill 918.

“I support the entire Senate Budget proposal for affordable housing and homelessness, but in particular this proposal contains funding I have requested in Senate Bill 918, along with my co-author Assemblywoman Blanca Rubio, to begin to meet the needs of California’s over 15,000 homeless youth. Our homeless youth are in crisis. With 1 in 10 youth between the age of 18 and 25 and 1 in 30 adolescents between the age of 13 and 17 experiencing homelessness within the last year, we need to step up to help provide a future for California’s homeless youth. I look forward to working with the Legislature and the Governor’s office to ensure that this funding makes it into the budget and that it is implemented in a way that addresses what is a moral failing in our state. We will continue to move SB 918 forward to put into law the framework to allocate funding and oversee statewide programming in a way that best supports our homeless youth and gets their lives on track.”

Senator Wiener and Assemblywoman Rubio authored SB 918, which creates an Office of Homeless Youth to set goals and map progress toward ending youth homelessness. The bill further directs $60 million in funding to address the alarming rise of youth homelessness in California. SB 918 is co-authored by a bipartisan group of Senators and Assemblymembers, and is sponsored by the California Coalition for Youth, Tipping Point Community, Equality California, John Burton Advocates for Youth, the Corporation for Supportive Housing, and Housing California. SB 918 is currently pending in the Senate Appropriations committee.