Is it true that other states send their homeless population over to California?

29 comments

1. Yes, this is true. Las Vegas sent over 300 mental patients to California instead of dealing with their mental health issues. SF also has a history of giving their own homeless people bus tickets to leave.

   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_homeless_relocation_programs_in_the_United_States

2. Yea, but California also sends its homeless to other states.

3. From what I’ve heard, it has happened, but mostly homeless folks just end up moving to California on their own or they are local victims of the recession, drug epidemic, etc.

   That being said, there are programs on a municipal level where cities will literally physically bus homeless to other cities or provide bus tickets for them to leave on their own. It’s comical and sounds fake, but sadly it is real and occurs regularly (at least here in WA).

4. I’ve never personally seen it happen, but my husband and I have both heard hospital stories in our careers about situations like that. Not without the patient’s consent or anything, more of a “hey, you just told me that you want to go to the West Coast. We all pitched in and bought you a ticket so you could reach that goal.”

5. It is true that several municipalities in the United States have indeed bussed their homeless population to other cities or states. Though I do not believe all or even a majority of them send them to California.

6. Most states do some version of this, not always there but California is likely or colorado

7. When I lived in Hawaii people used to say the state would ship them out, but I don’t know where or if it was even true.

8. The vast majority of California’s homeless population is from here. The vast majority of LA’s homeless population is also from here, or the surrounding area. Our homelessness problem is a direct result of our housing prices, which are a direct result of decades of underbuilding new housing.

   Many places have relocation programs that may be run by the city, state, or by a nonprofit. These are generally designed to reunite a homeless person with family in their hometown who can provide them some stability. Plenty of people move to LA with a little money in their pocket, their dreams don’t pan out, and they become homeless and too proud to go back home. These programs are designed to facilitate them going home.

   I’m not saying there are no bad actor programs out there that do not vet their clients or verify they actually have friends or family who can take them in after they get off the bus. I’m sure there are. But the vast majority of relocation programs are legit, and they do not account for more than a small fraction of the homeless problem. The whole point of a relocation program is that you won’t be homeless when you get there.

9. I think there are historical instances of that, similar to the recent political stunts of bussing refugees/immigrants to progressive cities.

   More than that though, it just happens naturally. People in need go where the resources are. As far as the homeless population in California- it has the nicest year round weather in the country (especially Southern California), so it is easier to survive outside there. There is also a longstanding culture of vagabonds and intentionally (temporarily) homeless bohemians that truly homeless people can blend in among and share spaces with. There are tons of ultra rich people that enjoy doing charity like feeding the homeless for publicity. The government programs to help the homeless rehabilitate are better funded than most other states. Recreational drugs are much more available than in other parts of the country- often legal or decriminalized- so there’s much less chance of them being arrested and losing more chances at redemption.

10. You can find plenty of examples of this happening, but statistics show that the majority of homeless people in any given location are locals

11. Yes it is true. [It’s also true that California sends homeless people back out. ](https://californiaglobe.com/fr/sfs-first-journey-home-bussing-for-homeless-statistics-unveiled/)

12. There’s actually a legit reason for some of this. People come to LA or SF and wind up homeless for whatever reason. One of the predictors of success for people trying to escape homelessness is having a good support system, so homeless agencies (using public funding) will buy homeless clients bus tickets back to their home state so that they can be with their families. The idea is that people are more likely to be able to get their lives back on track if they’re not trying to do it all on their own in a city where the don’t have any support.

    Not saying that that’s every case, but it’s part of it.

13. It happens, but it’s not representative of the majority of the population. A lot of the homeless that come from other locales came because the weather on the west coast is generally very mild, all up and down the coast. I live in Washington, but just north of Portland, and this is probably where I’d go if I lived in a harsher climate, if I were in that situation.

14. [Homelessness is higher in areas where rents are higher and where rents soar.](https://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/articles/2023/08/22/how-housing-costs-drive-levels-of-homelessness) The notion of vagabonds all wending their way to California in 2024 is largely myth. [9 in 10 homeless ppl in CA became homeless in CA. 75% lived in the same county as their last home](https://www.reddit.com/r/California/comments/14o8vep/how_many_of_californias_homeless_residents_are/).

15. Vermont too, it’s ruined Burlington

16. A recent study (post-covid) found that 75% of homeless folks are still in the county where they last had a home. Don’t believe any politicians who try and blame homelessness on someone else.

17. Most homeless everywhere are from the County they are located in. But Nevada was actually fined for their practice of “greyhound therapy” which was a one-way bus ticket to California. I have personally spoken with people who work with the homeless in places with unforgiving winters (near Rocky Mountains), in September they tell them they need to get west or south or they will die, which sadly is true.

18. The housing crisis, and by extension the homelessness crisis, is of our own making. We’ve made it impossible to build, and if you don’t allow supply to meet demand, you get soaring costs that many can’t afford.

19. I don’t know about it. I have known few homeless people who move to a warmer state for the winter. I also heard that some homeless go to California for the weather themselves. I just saw a post on mapporn showing most of coastal California has the most pleasant weather days in a year. You see homeless folks in New York and other big cities in winter especially at night on the subways. It’s just difficult to survive year round.

20. In Washington, cities send their homeless to Seattle and Moses Lake.

21. Expect the forced exodus from Southern California to accelerate over the next four years as Los Angeles prepares to host the Olympics.

22. Wait til you hear about hospitals dumping people on skid row!

23. Yes.

24. No they don’t but California’s leaders encouraged them to come. Sad but true. The other real truth is the majority of them are hopelessly lost in drug addiction and desire to just do drugs and live that way. Liberal states encourage drug addiction and this is sadly the result. The fix is to get rid of the politicians that desire this result. Vote them out.

25. This has happened and is probably happening as we speak. Not necessarily specifically just to California, oftentimes, they’ll offer to send them to a neighboring state.

26. California is super cool to the homeless. Lots of rich people, giving change to the homeless!

27. Yes, it is very much true.

    They don’t necessary ‘ship’ them to Cali, but gives them the resources to get there.

28. I went looking for a recent article detailing this practice in the Salt Lake Tribune as there was quite the interstate kerfluffle when several Wyoming mayors admitted sending their homeless to the Utah capitol last winter, but instead I found [this.](https://www.gillettenewsrecord.com/news/wyoming/article_7839d936-c5c4-5ad8-9505-6d30f2f66ada.html)

    Its mind-blowing how different in tone the two articles are, and honestly makes my blood burn up that these Jackson AssHoles think they can buy their former blue collar local citizens tents and gloves and then pat themselves on the back as they fly their private charter jets back to the city with the highest rate of income inequality in the country to have brunch with Kanye and cheers $100 mimosas to their efforts to help 15 homeless women.

29. Other cities bus their homeless away when preparing for the Olympics. Atlanta 1996.