Sacramento County taxpayers will assist Afghan refugees with a $5 million contingency fund set up by the Board of Supervisors, but only if federal authorities fail to come through with aid.
The fund reflects the county’s belief that numerous refugees will resettle here. Sacramento County is home to one of the largest Afghan immigrant populations in the U.S. Many live in unincorporated areas of Arden Arcade.
County Executive Ann Edwards says many new arrivals will be non-special visa holders with limited language skills, facing hardships due to cultural challenges. Those refugees may not receive the same federal assistance given to special visa holders.
The federally mandated headcount of homeless individuals in Sacramento County was last conducted in 2019. It revealed more than 5,500 people experienced homelessness on a given night. This year’s count was canceled by the pandemic.
While the 2019 survey showed an increase of nearly 20 percent from 2017, residents don’t need an official report to know homelessness continues to grow.
Sacramento County will have a new Board of Supervisors next year. Exactly how new is an open question.
Three board seats are up for grabs in 2022, but county residents might have just one serious choice with the retirement of veteran member Don Nottoli. Incumbents Phil Serna and Patrick Kennedy hold the other two seats under consideration. Both will run to keep their jobs. The big question is whether they will have viable opponents.
For better or worse, the coronavirus inoculation process has been an opportunity for California’s county health departments to show their strengths and efficiencies. Unfortunately, it’s also been a time when counties may come up short.
With more COVID-19 vaccine doses becoming available, the California Department of Public Health placed individual counties in charge of their own vaccination rollouts. The state advised residents to look to their local county health departments for information. That put pressure on Sacramento County Public Health to ramp up to speed.
