SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — The San Diego County Taxpayers Association and other local leaders are demanding more transparency when it comes to the homeless crisis, calling for the San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness to provide more data about contracted homeless services.
"We have a crisis, and so the sooner we can get the information, the sooner we can actually make sure that we're being effective," said Haney Hong, president and CEO of the San Diego County Taxpayers Association.
Hong said a lot of taxpayers' dollars are going into homelessness services, but it's unclear if the money is being used effectively.
"Are the programs working? If they are effective, then folks should not be returning to homelessness," Hong said.
Hong said they're not asking for personal information like names but data such as enrollment demographics of homeless services, how long someone spent in a program, and where they went after receiving services.
Chula Vista Mayor John McCann and Vista Mayor John Franklin also expressed the need for more transparency.
Franklin said within the last six months, 50 people agreed to go to a shelter, but barely any beds were available.
"We paid for 1,825 bed nights during that time period. We only used 37 percent of them; that's an absolute failure," Franklin said.
He wants more of an explanation as to why beds aren't available.
"I need to know if the beds weren't available because of a COVID breakout or they weren't available because of lack of staffing," Franklin said.
ABC 10News reached out to the San Diego Regional Task Force on Homelessness, and they pointed out that their website provides public data on who is accessing homeless services, the performance of the region's homeless crisis response system, and service needs.
“RTFH does not share private client level data because it is personal protected information. People experiencing homelessness deserve the same privacy protections as everyone else. We are happy to meet with elected officials to review our dashboards and data reports and help them ensure they’re receiving the information they need from the contracts their cities have with service providers," RTFH CEO Tamera Kohler said in a statement to ABC 10News.
