‘Volunteer Jail’: 7 things to know about the failure of California’s homeless shelters
All across California, temporary homeless shelters have become the foundation of taxpayer-funded efforts to get people off the street. CalMatters’ new investigation found that shelters have instead become housing purgatory. They’re often a mess—dangerous, chaotic and ultimately ineffective at finding people lasting housing. Shelters are usually off-limits to anyone but staff and residents. To understand…