NEW: California is pumping money into homeless shelters as cities clear tents. Our year-long investigation found it's not working:.- <1 in 4 go onto permanent housing.- Widespread violence + misconduct.- 2,007 deaths since 2018 (2x as many as jails).

Concerned about California's drug addiction crisis?. Read this insane story about one treatment center's quest to get insurers to pay for services, by @ByrhondaLyons + @jocelynwiener:. via @CalMatters

RT @MrOlmos: CalMatters spoke with three men who were detained on the streets of Los Angeles during the first weekend of the raids. These….

RT @MrOlmos: Taken: What happens after an LA immigration raid. Masked men pull up quickly and approach Latino men. When someone runs, they….

NEW: Hundreds of drivers who've killed on California roads improperly kept their licenses. Some got in other crashes or racked up new tickets. “How can he keep driving?” said Gaudy Lemus, who's son Joseph, 18, died after a 2021 crash. @CalMatters

RT @CalMatters: Law enforcement agencies across Southern California violated state law more than 100 times last month by sharing informatio….

The problem in Willie's case and many others: A lack of investigators to find out what really happened. “They got their hook in me, and they kept it in me," said a man later freed in Willie's case. "There’s nothing you can do.". @AnatRubin1 @CalMatters.

One night in 1976, a 6-year-old boy disappeared from the far Northern California logging town of Happy Camp. What followed, @AnatRubin1 found, was a twisting murder investigation that reveals big holes in the state's justice system:.

RT @nicholasgerda: NEW: LA homelessness officials are refusing to release public records to LAist about allegations of high-level wrongdoin….

Have you ever driven or ridden on a California road?. You might have passed the drivers with 6, 12, even 17 tickets, who the state routinely allows to keep their licenses — some even after they kill. Robert Lewis for @CalMatters:.

Go to the border with @MrOlmos, who investigated what really happened on a California immigration raid:. "Border Patrol had no prior knowledge of criminal or immigration history for 77 of the 78 people arrested". via @CalMatters @bellingcat + Evident Media.

"No one is going to say no to Lake Tahoe.”. Must read Julie Cart story on a new era of eco-development clashes in Northern California: . via @CalMatters

RT @tclift: A shocking investigation from @LAHepler. (The City of Sacramento has repeatedly declined to allow me an….

@MarisaKendall @CalMatters "Their reasons for living on the street varied. Many couldn’t stand being in a shelter. One man said he once saw a fellow shelter resident get raped, and since then, he’s avoided those facilities at all costs.". More on conditions inside homeless shelters:

"Look, there’s nowhere else to go." . @MarisaKendall on the messy reality of California’s homeless encampment crackdowns. via @CalMatters.

Thanks to @ByrhondaLyons for co-reporting, @CalMatters for suing to get hidden records, @AdrianaHeldiz for illustrating and many many others who helped. Have you stayed or worked at a California homeless shelter? Please get in touch:.

So where do we go from here? A few options:. - More shelter monitoring .- Less "one-size-fits-all" shelters. More options for drug detox, financial issues, abuse survivors, etc. - Shifting money to direct rent assistance.- A LOT more housing.

Still, getting into a shelter isn't easy. California has 187,000 homeless residents and 61,400 shelter beds. Waits can stretch months. It's not as simple as defunding shelters: Even critics say sick & elderly "would not survive a second outside".

The majority of California's publicly funded shelters are run by nonprofits. Some say the chaos isn't surprising with unrealistic budgets, the drug crisis & "broken" health care system. "What the fuck did you think was going to happen?" one CEO said.

Up to 90% of people in shelters will stay homeless. Catherine Moore, 54, said she was sexually harassed at an Anaheim shelter. She wound up back on the street before finally finding her own place. “The shelter is a volunteer jail,” she said.

Thousands of public records reveal a long list of issues:. - Black mold. Child abuse. Stabbings.- Staff stealing donations + giving housing to friends & family.- A convicted attempted murderer hired as a shelter guard, only to commit 3 sex crimes in 1 day.