By Blake Nelson
One of the region’s diversion funds, which helps residents at risk of sleeping outside, is running low on money.
The vast majority of people who received a one-time financial gift to stave off homelessness were still housed several months after the aid ended.
That’s according to a new report from the Regional Task Force on Homelessness calling on leaders to invest more money in so-called diversion funding, which offers families that can otherwise support themselves a few thousand dollars to pay for expenses like apartment deposits.
Among the 489 households helped last year, officials found that 93% were able to get a permanent home.
“San Diego is in critical need of a regionally-scaled Homeless Diversion Fund,” the report said. “Since HUD” — meaning the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development — “does not permit the use of federal funds for this purpose, there is a critical need for local funders to take the lead.”
There are three broad types of homelessness aid. Prevention efforts keep people from losing housing in the first place, often through programs that help pay the rent month after month. Then there are emergency services, like shelters, for those already on the street.
Diversion occupies a space between those poles. It generally targets residents about to be evicted, or who just started sleeping outside, and the funding is flexible. Maybe a car broke down and repairs cost $500. Or someone needs to spend a night in a hotel to shower and rest before going to job interviews. Diversion might cover each as long as recipients don’t need long-term support.
The San Diego Housing Commission and the task force both have diversion funds, although this approach has generally received less money than other forms of aid. Then in 2023, San Diego County Supervisor Terra Lawson-Remer helped get philanthropic organizations and local governments to chip in more than $1 million to the task force’s program. Combined with several hundred thousands dollars already in the bank, officials now had about $1.5 million.
The report from May looked at how that money was spent. On average, each household received $3,150. The majority of the money doled out (46%) went to rental payments. Around a third (35%) covered deposits, while another 9% was spent on hotel stays. Among the recipients who landed a permanent place, 96% were still housed when officials checked back in several months later, according to the report.
Nearly 30 agencies around the region participated in the program, although the analysis said the number of organizations involved wasn’t nearly as important as ensuring that outreach workers were trained to identify the types of people who only need short-term aid.
The report made the case that diversion funding may have been one reason why homelessness shrank for two consecutive months at the end of last year. Analysists also argued that money was saved by keeping people out of shelters, which can cost $120 per person, per night. (A separate study from UC San Diego found that some shelter stays lasted more than a year.)
The extra $1 million-plus has all been spent, according to Stephen Cushman of the Cushman Foundation, one of the original donors. But he’s hopeful that more money can be rounded up. “Now that we have proven success,” he said, “I would look forward to working with our philanthropy circle to further expand the program.”
The housing commission’s diversion initiative is similarly promising. About 91% of households helped in fiscal 2024 did not appear to ask for more homelessness services in the county during the following year, according to spokesperson Scott Marshall.
The agency’s diversion budget for the current fiscal year is around $1.5 million.
This post was originally published on Basic Income Today.