‘The country is watching’...

The Filipina fatality was already buried in Turkey based on the decision of her Turkish husband, de Vega said during a Laging Handa press briefing.

He, however, added that Filipinos who are already citizens of Turkey, being married to Turks, should first reacquire their Filipino citizenship to qualify for repatriation.

“Some of them are already Turkish citizens. They need to re-acquire [first] their [Filipino] citizenship under Republic Act 9225 to avail [of the repatriation service],” de Vega said in Filipino.

“So, madali po ‘yan (So, it’s easy). Kung magagawa natin (If we can do [that] within the next several days, dapat magsisiuwian na ‘yan (they would be expected to come home),” he added.

De Vega noted that there are about 248 Filipinos who were affected by the earthquake, with 64 of them staying at a temporary shelter in the country’s capital Ankara.

On the other hand, 70 others sought financial assistance from the embassy, he said.

De Vega added that there is no definite schedule yet on the repatriation of the distressed Filipinos and the body of the Filipina fatality. n

PAGE 4 increase since Newsom took office in 2019.

Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg welcomes Newsom’s push to more aggressively reduce homelessness. He also sees the confounding reality on the ground. The city and Sacramento County have poured millions into new shelter beds and permanent housing, only to see the homeless count surge to 9,200 in 2022, thousands higher than two years prior.

“We have housed over 17,000 people — undeniable success” — in the past six years, Steinberg said. “But it’s not success in the eyes of the public, understandably so, because all we see out on our streets is increasing numbers.”

Steinberg asked himself: “How is it that we are successful in getting tens of thousands of people off the streets only to see the numbers grow?”

Jason Elliott, Newsom’s deputy chief of staff, runs point on homelessness for the governor. He said the question of how to close the homeless spigot is motivating them to think bigger and be more aggressive. Clear out encampments, and at the same time connect people with housing and services.

Steer more federal dollars into homeless response. Amend state land-use laws to enable counties to site and build housing faster.

Turn the state Medicaid system, Medi-Cal, into a tool to combat homelessness by marrying health care and housing — for instance, funding the first and last month’s rent and asking insurers to work with landlords to find housing for homeless people.

Elliott rattled through a list of reasons he thinks explain how the problem got so entrenched. California is generous with benefits. Its climate is hospitable. The extraordinary cost of living. He also reinforced the administration’s prime strategy: It’s not just about more money, but forcing cities and counties to go harder at the problem with the resources they have.

“The most important thing that we have to do as a state is build more housing and get more people into services, and fundamentally that is a local government responsibility.”

Elliott said. “Local government are the providers of behavioral health services, and they are the ones who choose whether or not housing gets permitted.”

As the administration takes its “just get it done” message across the state, those involved are keenly aware there’s a wider audience.

“There’s a broad sense in this country that we’re falling apart at the seams, and homelessness is part of the proof, to voters, that we’re falling apart. People want this problem fixed, and they want resolute leadership,” said Sragow, the Los Angeles strategist.

“The country is watching. Gavin Newsom has a record of getting out front on big national issues. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t.”

This story was produced by KHN, which publishes California Healthline, an editorially independent service of the California Health Care Foundation.

KHN (Kaiser Health News) is a national newsroom that produces in-depth journalism about health issues. Together with Policy Analysis and Polling, KHN is one of the three major operating programs at KFF (Kaiser Family Foundation). KFF is an endowed nonprofit organization providing information on health issues to the nation.

(By Angela Hart/ Kaiser Health News) n