California’s Bay Area Rapid Transit Agency (BART) spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on a homeless outreach program that reportedly helped one person.
The program was run by the Salvation Army, the Mercury News said Friday, citing a report from the inspector general.
The report includes some investigations at the agency that document allegations of wage theft, opaque spending, and a former worker taking over $2 million in contracts once he vacated his position.
The inspector general’s documents, titled, “$350K for Homeless Outreach Yielded Unclear Results” said BART paid the organization $350,000 to go toward outreach, but only one homeless person entered treatment as a result:
Other tangible results from the organization remain unclear. In July 2020 and August 2021, the BART Board of Directors approved one-year agreements for $250K with the organization, for a total award amount of $500K to deploy an outreach team to make contact with unsheltered persons in downtown San Francisco BART stations. When the outreach team encountered an individual with a substance use disorder who was willing to enter treatment and remain abstinent from drug and alcohol use, the organization was to enroll them in their residential treatment program. The agreements lasted from July 2020 through July 2022, and BART paid a total of $350K in invoices under them. Our office received an allegation that the organization was not making four shelter beds available to persons who identified as homeless in the BART system as required under the agreements.
The inspector general has been trying to audit the agency, but it has reportedly pushed back against oversight for a long time.
A BART spokesman told the News the agency did not quite agree with the Salvation Army’s rules that those in the program promise to remain sober.
“The agency’s new Homeless Action Plan dropped the pledge and was designed for more accountability,” the article said.
Meanwhile, Gov. Gavin Newsom (D) and local lawmakers have reportedly argued about who should take responsibility for the homeless problem in their state, according to Breitbart News.
There have long been “disagreements over who should be in charge of the homelessness problem, as the state reportedly has over 116,000 residents sleeping on the streets — the most in the United States — in addition to being one of the most expensive housing markets across the country,” the outlet said.
Video footage shows homeless encampments across California:
Now, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass is hoping to move 17,000 homeless people off the streets this year, Breitbart News reported Sunday, adding it was unclear if she will accomplish the task.
“Homelessness is the result of a variety of causes: drugs, mental illness, the high cost of housing, and social welfare policies that create incentives to rely on public assistance,” the article stated.
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