Homelessness in the Bay Area can be conquered with regional cooperation, policy changes and public incentives for private investment, according to a new report released Wednesday by the Bay Area Council Economic Institute and consulting firm McKinsey & Co.
The far-reaching report outlines initiatives that are working — including efforts in San Francisco, Oakland and San Jose — but also highlights how the nine-county region continues to fail to deliver housing and homeless services, even amid an economic boom. The issue is exacerbated, the report said, by the Bay Area's rising cost of living that has driven up housing prices and driven more people to the brink of homelessness.
Homelessness costs hundreds of millions of dollars annually across the region and that will increase if new cooperative approaches and efficiencies aren't found quickly. Potential initiatives range from regional prevention and diversion programs for residents at risk of becoming homeless, expanding the housing supply for extremely low-income people, streamlining the housing approval process, creating a statewide body, tapping technology to make homeless programs more efficient and raising more private and philanthropic cash for new approaches.
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