Recent Press Releases

SACRAMENTO, CA – As California enters another fire season, the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) is proud to announce the release of a new companion webinar supporting the Homeless Emergency and Active Readiness Toolkit (HEART), a resource launched in March 2025 to help local emergency managers improve disaster preparedness for people experiencing homelessness – especially those living unsheltered.

SACRAMENTO, CA – The California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) today unveiled its 2025-2027 Statewide Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness, a bold and data-driven roadmap to address one of the state’s most urgent crises. This three-year plan sets goals for the state and helps advance the state’s work to strengthen accountability for local governments receiving state funds.

Yesterday, Governor Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order N-1-24, mandating state agencies to move with urgency and compassion to adopt clear policies for addressing homeless encampments on state property, and encouraging local governments to adopt policies that emulate the state’s approach. Under the Governor's leadership, the Business, Consumer Services, and Housing Agency is striving for a California where homelessness is rare, brief, and non-recurring.

SACRAMENTO – Last Monday Central Sacramento Studios, which was funded by a nearly $24 million Homekey award, opened with 92 studio units serving Californians who are chronically homeless or experiencing homelessness. Of the 92 units, 25 units will be occupied by individuals experiencing chronic homelessness and 67 will be occupied by individuals currently experiencing homelessness.

SACRAMENTO – The California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) today announced it has awarded nearly $192 million in Encampment Resolution Fund (ERF) grants for 20 projects in 17 California communities to help people experiencing unsheltered homelessness move from encampments into housing.

SACRAMENTO – California today announced more than $54 million to support climate resilience by helping communities plan for and build more infill homes and infrastructure that support walking, rolling, biking, and transit as an alternative to driving.

SACRAMENTO – Lourdes Castro Ramírez today announced she will be stepping down as Secretary of the California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH).

SACRAMENTO – Today, on California Native American Day, the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) and the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) Governor Gavin Newsom announced $20 million in grants to 22 Native American Tribes in California to support projects aimed at addressing housing insecurity and preventing and ending homelessness in their communities.

SACRAMENTO – The California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) today approved updates to the Action Plan for Preventing and Ending Homelessness in California reflecting activities that its member departments, agencies and entities will implement during Fiscal Year 2023-24.

SACRAMENTO – In keeping with the Statewide Action Plan for Preventing and Ending Homelessness in California, the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) and the California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) are awarding $38 million in Encampment Resolution Fund (ERF) grants to seven communities statewide.

SACRAMENTO – Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez today announced that California is teaming up with the White House and the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness (USICH) to participate in ALL INside, a first-of-its kind initiative to address unsheltered homelessness. (Watch the event live at 11 a.m. PDT on YouTube: https://youtube.com/live/f9KRmjJ_qCg)

SACRAMENTO – Governor Newsom’s Fiscal Year 2023-24 proposed budget continues the state’s commitment to preserve and produce affordable housing along with continued investments to prevent and end homelessness in California.

Thirty-one community members have been appointed to the a California Interagency Council on Homelessness’ (Cal ICH) Advisory Committee by the council’s co-chairs, Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez and California Health and Human Services Agency Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly.

SACRAMENTO – California continues to deliver on the goals of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s House America initiative, which celebrated the completion of its one-year anniversary on September 20.

SACRAMENTO –The California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) today approved the annual update to its Action Plan for Preventing and Ending Homelessness, which includes the work of the state departments and agencies newly added to the Council at the beginning of 2022 when the Homelessness Coordinating and Financing Council was renamed and expanded to form the revamped Cal ICH.

SACRAMENTO – The California Interagency Council on Homelessness (Cal ICH) will award $17 million to 10 cities, counties and Continuums of Care (CoCs) across the state to develop new, coordinated efforts to house and support families with the goal of making families’ experiences of homelessness rare, brief, and one-time.

SACRAMENTO – Four California communities participating in the Governor’s 100-Day Challenge on Encampments reported that they have housed 109 people who were experiencing unsheltered homelessness.

SACRAMENTO – The Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) has released its standard agreement to apply for the Homeless Housing, Assistance and Prevention (HHAP) program. In this agreement, applicants must indicate whether they intend to apply for HHAP-3 funding jointly with an overlapping jurisdiction or apply as an individual entity in order to receive an initial disbursement of funds. Eligible applicants that apply jointly will receive a larger initial disbursement.

SACRAMENTO – The Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) has released its latest version of a funding guide aimed at helping leaders and planners within local governments and Continuums of Care in California understand and make strategic use of the many important resources made available to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to support economic recovery, as they continue their work to prevent and end homelessness for Californians.

SACRAMENTO – California’s COVID-19 Rent Relief program has seen significant increases in almost all areas over the past month, with nearly 133,000 active applications, almost 21,000 households provided with help paying their rent and utilities, and a huge increase in the amount of rent and utility assistance paid – all of which and more can now be seen on a new interactive public dashboard.

ANTIOCH – Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez and Department of Housing and Community Development (HCD) Director Gustavo Velasquez held a news conference today to highlight the California COVID-19 Rent Relief program’s partnership with Contra Costa County, to announce significant improvements to the rent relief program, including enhancing the application experience, and bringing in more Community-Based Organizations to assist with education and outreach.

SACRAMENTO – The Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) released the Final Summary Report for the second cohort of the Governor’s 100-Day Challenge initiative on homelessness.

SACRAMENTO – California now has its first-ever data warehouse that will allow the state to make data-driven policy decisions in its efforts to prevent and end homelessness.

SACRAMENTO – The Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) has approved the state’s first-ever long-term plan to address homelessness in California. The Action Plan to Prevent and End Homelessness in California was approved unanimously by the Council on March 23, 2021.

SACRAMENTO – The U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA) has awarded California’s Outsmart Disaster resiliency program a grant of $782,788 to expand its statewide education and training campaign to help businesses prepare for and recover from disasters.

SACRAMENTO – Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) has been chosen to bring together ground-level partnerships with California communities and tribes to assist the state as it implements the Emergency Rental Assistance Program created by the COVID-19 Tenant Relief Act, the strongest-in-the nation eviction protections signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on January 29. In addition, Prosio Communications has been chosen to launch a robust public education awareness campaign to inform the hardest hit Californians about the program.

SACRAMENTO – With the new California Consumer Financial Protection Law now in effect, the Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) will exercise expanded powers to better protect consumers from unlawful, unfair, deceptive, and abusive practices.

SACRAMENTO – Plante Moran has been selected to build the Homeless Data Integration System (HDIS) which will allow the state to access and compile standardized data from California’s 44 Continuums of Care (CoCs) into the state’s first-ever unified homeless data warehouse. With consistent data, California will be able to enhance its understanding of the challenges impacting individuals experiencing homelessness and make data-driven policy decisions aimed at preventing and ending homelessness in California.

SACRAMENTO – California’s second cohort of the 100-Day Challenge announced last December by Governor Gavin Newsom is underway, in San Francisco, Santa Barbara and Sonoma counties to address homelessness for specific targeted populations, such as veterans or youth. This cohort, which kicked off its challenge today, joins a national movement of communities who have participated in the 100-Day Challenge to accelerate efforts in California toward preventing and ending homelessness.

SACRAMENTO – Governor Gavin Newsom today announced the second round of awards for Homekey, California’s innovative, nation-leading $600 million program to purchase and rehabilitate housing – including hotels, motels, vacant apartment buildings and other properties – and convert them into permanent, long-term housing for people experiencing or at risk of experiencing homelessness.

SACRAMENTO – A new web-based app is now available to help Californians understand their rights and options under The Tenant, Homeowner and Small Landlord Relief and Stabilization Act of 2020 (Act).

SACRAMENTO – Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) Secretary Lourdes Castro Ramírez today welcomed Eric Hirata as the new Director of Alcoholic Beverage Control (ABC).

SACRAMENTO – California has distributed all $100 million in emergency grant funding allocated to cities, counties and Continuums of Care by Governor Gavin Newsom’s Administration to help protect people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SACRAMENTO - California has awarded $100 million in emergency grant funding to California counties, Continuums of Care, and the state's 13 largest cities to help protect the health and safety of people experiencing homelessness during the COVID-19 pandemic.

SACRAMENTO – Effective immediately, in response to Governor Gavin Newsom’s direction, the California Horse Racing Board (CHRB), working closely with The Stronach Group (TSG), owner of Santa Anita Park, will implement enhanced safety measures and reviews to further protect horses at Santa Anita.

SACRAMENTO – California’s Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council has distributed all $500 million in Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) funding to California’s 43 Continuums of Care (CoCs) and 11 large cities.

SACRAMENTO – $500 million in block grants to address homelessness in California has been awarded to the 43 Continuums of Care (COCs) and 11 large cities eligible for Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) funding from the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council.

SACRAMENTO – California’s Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council has received applications from all 43 Continuums of Care (CoCs) and 11 large cities eligible for Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) funding.

SACRAMENTO – Nearly $116 million dollars in emergency homeless aid for four cities and one Continuums of Care has been approved by the Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency’s Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council.

SACRAMENTO – The California Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council has released a Notice of Funding Availability (NOFA) for $500 million in block grants for the Homeless Emergency Aid Program (HEAP) to help local jurisdictions address homelessness.

Sacramento – The Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council (HCFC) has a new Executive Officer and a new Grant Manager.

The California Business, Consumer Services and Housing Agency (BCSH) is pleased to welcome Laurie Berman to the Homeless Coordinating and Financing Council following her appointment yesterday by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr.

The California Bureau of Real Estate under the Department of Consumer Affairs (DCA) will become the California Department of Real Estate effective July 1, 2018.

The 2018-19 state budget signed by Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. includes $500 million in emergency funding to help local governments across the state address homelessness.

County Will Revamp Its Deaf and Hard of Hearing Accommodations and Pay $50,000 to Settle Claims that It Denied Deaf Man Sign Language Interpretation During Two Interrogations in Jail.

Governor Edmund G. Brown Jr. today released a revised state budget proposal that boosts education funding to an all-time high, fills the Rainy Day Fund to the brim and directs billions of dollars in one-time surplus funding to combat homelessness, improve mental health services and rebuild crumbling infrastructure.

Renter to receive $30,000K for Alleged Denial of Housing Because of Emotional Support Animal.

Southern California man was recognized by more hospitals after news reports.

Southern California audiologist arrested for indecent exposure at a theme park; more victims sought as additional charges are brought

DFEH: DFEH Sues San Diego Crunch Fitness for Discriminating Against Transgender Member Gym Refused to Give Transgender Woman Member Access to Women’s Facilities.