in the previous survey two years ago, the number of chronically homeless and homeless veterans dropped, replaced by a new group. >> the woman that makes your sandwiches at the deli you go to or the janitor scrubbing your floors at night, those are the faces of homelessness today. >> reporter: home first is the largest provider of homeless services in santa clara county. the census helps to align services to shifting needs. >> they're going to see if the will's an increase in homeless families. there's been a movement the create safe parking services for people with rvs and cars. a lot of our families are in those areas. >> reporter: the mayor says the point in time count helps to prioritize spending on services. >> it tells us what is working. >> reporter: a woman staying at a shelter says she's getting help after being homeless for several years. >> it's been six long years in different vehicles and, you know, my health has -- is, you know, to the point where i need an emergency surgery, you know, and i'm very grateful for those services. >> reporter: one in four are living in shelter

formerly homeless person. i am one you have the few experts in this room about some of the things you are talking about. have you been homeless? why are you fooling with this issue? what is your going about this is all stick. we are going to regulate this, pass this law, criminalize this, do this and that. this gentleman says it is complaint driven. that is nice. complaint driven. anybody go to the vehicle dwellers and say the neighbors have a concern about this behavior. if you don't correct it, we are going to have to regulate the street. scent that reasonable and -- isn't that reasonable? isn't that humanitarian? no, not this city. this city has a mayor that says we are going to throw you in jail, run you off, throw your things in the trash. you act like people have an option. this commission member i asked why is this taking so long? let's go back to the super bowl 15 days. pier 80 was open. within four days they had justin her man swept, the embarcadero swept the mission swept. they put them in pier 80. i

shelters and housing for the homeless. not just us. it can't just b.s. it has to be san mateo, it has to be -- you can't just be us. it has to be all the different counties that haven't been part of that solution. we know it is part of the stuff we need to do with the other counties who aren't as onboard. we'll be taking on those challenges just like we are taking on challenges from housing. but again, thank you so much for the huge amount of team effort, all of the city, state, amazing who are here today, and really to give 84 people this new on-ramp to a different life. thank you. [applause] >> thank you very much. as the mayor pointed out, it takes a village to open a navigation center, and you can't have a village without the land its built on. this is where caltrain comes in. i would like to invite the district four director to the podium. he will describe in more detail their role in making this navigation center a reality. tony? [applause] >> good morning. thank you assembly member, mayor london breed, and thank you

last year, volunteers counted more than 53-thousand homeless people. (pam) this is happening, as lawmakers met today to hear suggestions from federal, state and local officials on how to tackle the state's housing and homeless issues. (ken) capitol bureau reporter ashley zavala explains what solutions they're considering. tate lawmakers turned the spotlight on california's growing homelessness problem at an assembly hearing wednesday.((assm. eloise gomez- reyes (d) san bernardino)) "it's the moral crisis of the day."housing experts say within the last five years , the national homelessness rate decreased by 6%, while california's

on new challenges and solutions to homelessness. it is my pleasure now to introduce the moderator for the first part of the program. kristin cast. with the staff writer with the atlantic. he covers housing, architecture and politics. he has been recently working on a story dealing with the government shutdown. and how it is pushing low income renters to the brink of possible eviction. he is also looked at how landlords nationwide have shut their doors on renters receiving housing assistance. he previously worked as a senior editor for architect magazine. >> thank you so much. i will introduce my fellow panelist i bet you already know them. since taking office in january 2015, mayor jim kenney has implemented an agenda. it creates more opportunity in every quarter of his city which is philadelphia. he worked closely with city council. to fund anti-poverty initiative, including pre- quality pre-k in the historic investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in parks and recreation centers and playgrounds and libraries. finding solutio

on new challenges and solutions to homelessness. it is my pleasure now to introduce the moderator, first moderator, for the first part of the program, kristen capps, who is a staff writer with the atlantic city lab. he covers housing, architecture and polypolitics. he has been recently working on stories dealing with the government shutdown and how it is pushing low-income renters to he brink of possible eviction. he's also looked at how landlords nationwide have shut their doors on renters receiving ousing assistance. he previously worked as an editor for an architect magazine. kriston: thank you very much. i'm going to introduce my fellow panelists, although i suspect you already know them. since taking office in january, 2016, mayor jim kenny has implemented a progressive agenda, creates more opportunity in every corridor of his city. which is philadelphia. bold anti-poverty initiative, creation of community schools and historic investment of hundreds of millions of dollars in parks, recreation centers, play grounds and libraries

and that is high school homelessness many students experience homelessness and high school and there is a system indicate twelve system you've got a point person a liaison who's charged with connecting all the dots between communities that has not been yet translated fully to higher education so we do see states taking taking that idea of having a designated liaison or person at institutions of higher education and they they they then become the person to connect with community services to connect with housing connect connect with food and to connect with that pipeline to college homelessness which is everything that happened before. of you talking to travel know from the daily show people can go online and see talks about food insecurity and students and student homelessness is this issue i know you and barbara. talking about it right now is this issue being talked about enough do people know that students are struggling it's growing i mean i can absolutely tell you that the number of people who are in high powered positions of leadership is absolutely growing the number of programs

and that is high school homelessness many students experience homelessness and high school and there is a system indicate twelve system you've got a point person a liaison who's charged with connecting all the dots between communities that has not been yet translated fully to higher education so we do see states taking taking that idea of having a designated liaison or person at institutions of higher education and they they they then become the person to connect with community services to connect with housing connect connect with food and to connect with that pipeline to college homelessness which is everything that happened before. of you talking to travel know from the daily show people can go online and see talks about food insecurity and students and student homelessness is this issue i know you and barbara. talking about it right now is that you've been talked about and people know that students are struggling it's growing i mean i can absolutely tell you that the number of people who are in the high powered positions of leadership is absolutely growing the number of programs i

challenges and solutions to homelessness. it is my pleasure now to introduce the moderator for the first part of the program. a staff writer with the atlantic. he covers housing, architecture, and politics. onhas been recently working stories dealing with the government shutdown. and how it is pushing low income renters to the brink of possible eviction. he has also looked at how landlords nationwide have shut their doors on renters receiving housing assistance. he previously worked as a senior editor for architect magazine. >> thank you so much. can you hear me? i'm going to introduce my fellow panelists, although i expect you already know them. since taking office in january kenny hasr jim implemented a progressive agenda to create more opportunities in every corner of his city, philadelphia. he work closely with city council to pass tax funds and bold antipoverty initiatives including the expansion of free quality pre-k, community schools , and historic investments of hundreds of millions of in dollars parks, recreation ce

and that is high school homelessness many students experience homelessness and high school and there is a system indicate twelve system you've got a point person a liaison who's charged with connecting all the dots between communities that has not been yet translated fully to higher education so we do see states taking taking that idea of having a designated liaison or person at institutions of higher education and they they they then become the person to connect with community services to connect with housing connect connect with food and to connect with that pipeline to college homelessness which is everything that happened before. of you talking to travel know from the daily show people can go online and see talks about food insecurity and students and student homelessness is this issue i know you and barbara. talking about it right now is that you've been talked about and people know that students are struggling it's growing i mean i can absolutely tell you that the number of people who are in the high powered positions of leadership is absolutely growing the number of programs i

tate lawmakers turned the spotlight on california's growing homelessness problem at an assembly hearing wednesday.((assm. eloise gomez- reyes (d) san bernardino)) "it's the moral crisis of the day."housing experts say within the last five years , the national homelessness rate decreased by 6%, while california's increased by 9%.although the state has more than 18 different homelessness related programs across six different departments, nationalhousing experts say the state needs to develop more coordination among them.((cynthia negandra - national alliance to end homelessness)) "you have a lot of separate programs, some operating very well, some not performing as well, but there isn't enough alignment in each community, in terms of getting people identified quickly into shelter quickly out of shelter and into housing."lawmakers say the state also needs to hold local governments accountable to how they're spending state housing funds....local government officials told lawmakers city councils sometimes struggle to pass homeless housing projects because of some community backlash.((assm. s

in seniors that are first time homeless. showing up at shelters. at 85 years old with no place to go. >> it's heartbreaking. for the staff and everybody. >> 66 year-old mike is one of them. >> how are things changing out here in the homeless community? >> big bags. there's more women than men. they have children. >> this dog is 53 year-old's only child. she was a teacher. but a dui and missed rent payment put her on the streets. >> your landlord is gouging. they they're struggling too. they will put you out for somebody that can pay. real quick. so. you're one check away. >> one paycheck away from homelessness in the expensive bay area. that number is expected to go up. as the results are released in april. now all of the homeless i talked to today here and bay point told me they are seeing more children and especially more women out here on the streets homeless. i talked to several homeless women who say they have to booby trap the area the they sleep in to keep male sexual predators away at night while they sleep. >> that

and that is high school homelessness many students experience homelessness and high school and there is a system indicate twelve system you've got a point person a liaison who's charged with connecting all the dots between communities that has not been yet translated fully to a higher education so we do see states taking taking that idea of having a designated liaison or person at institutions of higher education and they they they then become the person to connect with community services to connect with housing connect connect with food and to connect with that pipeline to college homelessness which is everything that happened before. are you talking to travel from the daily show people can go online and see talks about food insecurity and students and and student homelessness is this issue i know you and barbara. talking about it right now is this issue being talked about enough do people know that students are struggling it's growing i mean i can absolutely tell you that the number of people who are in the high powered positions of leadership is absolutely growing the number of pr

i wanted to ask a question about on sheltered homelessness. we recently had a pretty significant homeless encampment in our city that we were able to transition successfully to a navigation center but there is a good chance that they will pop up again and so what are you doing about homeless encampment and how do you work through the process obviously it's difficult. >> we emptied out a train track area which was below grade where people were living for 20 or 30 years, injecting drugs and dying on the tracks. we had 12 or 14 people die every year of overdoses. the community wanted us to move those folks from there and once we did we knew it would happen they went and camped in other places. so we had four major encampments in one particular neighborhood. they went underneath the train trestles and people are really helpful and they want to be nice but when you bring people tents and heaters and furniture you are entrenching them even more in there so we moved three encampments so far we are moving the last one, january 30 and 31st, but there a

residents, these units are formerly homeless adults. the main initial goal is for housing stabilization to ensure that folks are in their units, stabilized, and learning the life skills to keep them housed. we also provide, through our grantee case management services , referrals, in-house and roving referrals to employment, mental health, and substance abuse counselling and services. the grant includes funding for modified payments so the rent payments are collected and made on time to support the building. benefits assistance, not only limits but other county benefits , conflict resolution for many of our residents, this is the first time they have been housing many years, and the building requires a level of tenant support, group counselling, tenant activities as well. tenants in these buildings are very low income. they pay about a third of their rent -- a third of their income to rent, but the client rent is really about $300 a month. the city's general fund in the care not cash fund picks up the balance. i want to address head on

investing every penny of available funds into affordable housing and homelessness. we have been running on a deficit of housing in san francisco for many, many years, and it is a particular crisis in affordable housing. nothing else we do, we have many needs, education, transportation , youth, but nothing else works if a family does not have stable housing. we have families in the mission sleeping on the floor of the gems because they have no place else to go. so this deficit that we have is a debt. we have a debt to our african-american community, latino families, seniors, seniors in chinatown who have been evicted, every person who has left us is part of the fabric of our community. they are members of our churches , members of our community, they are our neighbors and we owe that debt. we particularly owe that debt to my kids and your kids. the children of tomorrow for not going to be able to make a life here because they cannot afford it. so i spent a bunch of my life doing homeownership at the mayor 's office of housing and financial capability. one of the prin

officials are taking action to tackle homelessness. more than 7-thousand volunteers took to the streets for the annual homeless count to document how many people in l-a are living without home. the counting will continue through today the data gives city officials information to work with when investing in programs and projects for that population. last year, volunteers counted more than 53-thousand homeless people. ( robin ) that count in l-a happened as lawmakers met to hear suggestions from federal, state and local officials on how to tackle the state's housing and homeless issues. capitol bureau reporter ashley zavala explains what solutions they're considering. tate lawmakers turned the spotlight on california's growing homelessness problem at an assembly hearing wednesday.((assm. eloise gomez- reyes (d) san bernardino)) "it's the moral crisis of the day."housing experts say within the last five years , the national homelessness rate decreased by 6%, while california's increased by 9%.although the state has more than 18 different

housing experts say within the last five years , the national homelessness rate decreased by 6%, while california's increased by 9%.although the state has more than 18 different homelessness related programs across six different departments, nationalhousing experts say the state needs to develop more coordination among them.((cynthia negandra - national alliance to end homelessness)) "you have a lot of separate programs, some operating very well, some not performing as well, but there isn't enough alignment in each community, in terms of getting people identified quickly into shelter quickly out of shelter and into housing."lawmakers say the state also needs to hold local governments accountable to how they're spending state housing funds....local government officials told lawmakers city councils sometimes struggle to pass homeless housing projects because of some community backlash.((assm. sharon quirk-silva (d) fullerton)) "we do have to pay a more deliberate role an if the local government is not going to do their job and address this, then the state, as the

we're running out of spaces to go at night. >> there's more homelessness. no one can afford this rent. >> reporter: the countuilding 35 micropads, shiin containers apartments, for the homeless that they're going to add this year. but that's hardly going to put a department in the 2,234 unsheltered homeless that were counted last year. that number's very likely to go up when the results are released in april. i'm leslie brinkley, abc 7 news. zplt stories are just so tough. leslie, thanks very much. as we mentioned earlier, alameda county also conducted its homeless census today. and again, a federal government requirement. drone view 7 shows smechbt campments where people are living. oakland mayor libby schaaf took part in this morning's count which left certainly an impact on her. >> it's emotional. and the whole point of this count is also our way as a community of saying that our unsheltered residents count. >> officials think the number will go up from the last count, taken two years ago, which found more than 5,600 people homeless in alameda county. one

housing experts say within the last three years, the national homelessness rate decreased by 6%, while california's increased by 9%. although the state has more than 18 different homelessness related programs across six different departments, nationalhousing experts say the state needs to develop more coordination among them. ((cynthia negandra - national alliance to end homelessness)) "you have a lot of separate programs, some operating very well, some not performing as well, but there isn't enough alignment in each community, in terms of getting people identified quickly into shelter quickly out of shelter and into housing." lawmakers say the state also needs to hold local governments accountable to how they're spending state housing funds....local government officials told lawmakers city councils sometimes struggle to pass homeless housing projects because of some community backlash. ((assm. sharon quirk-silva (d) fullerton)) "we do have to pay a more deliberate role an if the local government is not going to do their job and address this, then the state, as the governor has said, t

so, if we ask, for example, the homeless department, the department of homelessness to pay for the $50 million in homeless ambulance rides, we can get every little thing that is on that list on page 17 and 18 and 19 and have $10 million to spare. i think these are the types of conversations we should be having since we're in a homeless crisis in san francisco. these are the situations we should be having with the other departments in this city since we're the ones that are picking up the slack on an issue that is technically not just our issue. our mission is to respond to 9-1-1 calls and make sure that people are getting emergency care. it seems like we're giving a large part of our budget to homeless people rides to the hospital -- given they need those rides in a lot of those cases and some cases they don't need the rides. it's cold outside and they know as the ms6 will tell you and some of the other people out in the engines other tell you, they know the right buzz words. they say the right buzz words and wore going to show up and give you a ride to the hospital. that's probably a