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The House Committee on Financial Services Thursday approved the Naomi Schwartz Safe Parking Program Act, a measure authored by U.S. Rep. Salud Carbajal, D-Santa Barbara.
The bipartisan bill enables local entities to receive grants to establish and expand safe parking programs, which provide homeless persons living in their vehicles with a safe place to park their vehicles overnight. The programs also offer resources to assist with the transition to more stable housing.
The nation’s first safe parking program was established in 2004 in Santa Barbara in former County Supervisor Naomi Schwartz’s district. The bill is named for Ms. Schwartz to honor her role as an original champion of the program.
Such programs have now spread across the country, but there remains limited federal funds to run the operational costs associated with these programs, according to Rep. Carbajal’s office.
“I am grateful to the members of the House Financial Services Committee who today helped us take one step closer to providing federal support for safe parking programs,” Rep. Carbajal said in a news release. “Safe parking programs originated here on the Central Coast and should be part of the wide array of strategies we support at the federal level to help people experiencing homelessness.”
The bill expands eligibility to the Housing and Urban Development Department’s Emergency Solution Grants to include or expand safe parking programs for local governments.
With committee approval, the measure is now available for consideration by the full House.
Rep. Carbajal’s measure has the support of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, the National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Housing Authority of the County of Santa Barbara, New Beginning and the National Homelessness Law Center.
email: kzehnder@newspress.com
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