Stockton Poised to Pass Homeless Employment Plan
STOCKTON (CBS13) - The city of Stockton is set to hire homeless to clean its streets.
Stockton Mayor Michael Tubbs is supporting the plan.
"I want to see a cleaner city. I think trash is number one on everyone's mind, but number two, I want folks to see that people who are homeless aren't necessarily worse people than the rest of us," Tubbs said.
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Homeless residents who are hired will work part-time and likely make minimum wage, currently $10.50 an hour.
Eligible applicants will get help filling out employee tax forms from case managers at a non-profit Stockton shelter.
"I think this allows them to develop a work history and some stability so they can have a career job in a couple years," Tubbs said.
SEE: The List Of Proposed Locations in Stockton Where Homeless Will Pick Up Trash
Stockton is partnering with Caltrans, which is providing the money. And besides the plan to pay homeless, Stockton is also voting to declare an emergency homeless shelter crisis.
"Essentially they're full all of the time, so even if you could convince people to come in to a shelter, there is literally no space," Central Valley Low Income Housing Corporation Executive Director Bill Mendelson said.
Declaring a shelter crisis, will allow Stockton to tap into hundreds of millions of state dollars approved for California's homeless problem.
San Joaquin County alone is expected to receive $7 million dollars for new shelters and housing.
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"It's an issue that we need to start solving and solving quickly," Tubbs said. "Because it has the potential to become worse."
Stockton is expected to approve $120,000 a year in payments for the homeless employment plan.
The Council vote is set for Tuesday.