Bill Text: CA SR61 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Enrolled

California Senate Resolution 61 (Prior Session Legislation)

Bill Title: Relative to Unaccompanied Women Experiencing Homelessness Awareness Month.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Passed) 2022-03-24 - Read. Adopted. (Ayes 39. Noes 0. Page 3207.) [SR61 Detail]

Download: California-2021-SR61-Enrolled.html

Enrolled March 24, 2022

Passed IN Senate March 24, 2022

Amended IN Senate January 18, 2022

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Resolution

No. 61

Introduced by Senator Rubio

August 31, 2021

Relative to Unaccompanied Women Experiencing Homelessness Awareness Month.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST

SR 61, Rubio.

WHEREAS, Unaccompanied women are individuals who identify as women, 18 years of age and older, who are experiencing homelessness not in the company of children or other dependents; and

WHEREAS, Unaccompanied women constitute 29 percent, or nearly one in three, of all adult individuals experiencing homelessness in the United States, for a total of 120,015 women, according to point-in-time counts summarized in the 2020 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) prepared by the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD); and

WHEREAS, In the last five years, the total number of unhoused women nationally has remained flat, unaccompanied women’s homelessness has increased by 20 percent. Unaccompanied women now constitute more than one-half of all unhoused women in the United States; and

WHEREAS, California has the single largest population of women experiencing homelessness in the nation. According to the state’s Homeless Data Integration System, 102,112 women experienced homelessness in California at some point in 2020; and

WHEREAS, According to the 2020 AHAR, 53,505 women were experiencing homelessness as individuals in California. This is twice the size of unaccompanied youth and veterans combined, and twice that of families with children. Unaccompanied women constitute one in three of all unhoused Californians, and 40 percent of individuals experiencing homelessness; and

WHEREAS, There remains a critical dearth of research on the unique needs of unhoused women, and specifically unaccompanied women, experiencing homelessness, as HUD first disaggregated data by gender starting with the 2015 AHAR. What little is known points to deeply troubling trends, with unaccompanied women now representing over one-half of all women unhoused in America; and

WHEREAS, Unaccompanied women endure high rates of first-time homelessness, longer spells of homelessness, and higher barriers in accessing stable housing. Unaccompanied women are also disproportionately women of color, particularly Black women, and they report extremely high incidence of trauma, whether physical, sexual, or psychological in nature, that is compounded by their ongoing homelessness; and

WHEREAS, In the past several years, HUD has designated official homeless subpopulations, such as families, youth, veterans, and the chronically homeless, as a means to call out their unique needs and to develop specific strategies that have shown to reduce overall levels of homelessness. For a variety of factors, unaccompanied women are deprived of accessing these subpopulation-specific programs; now, therefore, be it

Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, That the Senate proclaims the month of March 2022 as Unaccompanied Women Experiencing Homelessness Awareness Month in the State of California; and be it further

Resolved, That the Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the author for appropriate distribution.