Freebie: Tuesday’s Best
(Client: Farmers Market)
Never mind that summer’s pretty much over. Here in LA, it’s always in season to be outdoors. And the Original Farmers Market hopes to entice you with “Tuesday’s Best,” a culinary series of free food sampling, cooking demos with the Market’s chefs, retail specials and live music. Going on every Tuesday night (September 20-October 11) from 5pm to 9pm, each week will highlight a different theme starting with International Cuisine on September 20 and ending with Potpourri on October 11. The best part? You don’t have to don your Sunday’s best to this casual fest.
Get the full schedule here.
The Flavors of Farmers Market
(Client: Farmers Market)
A popular snack-on-everything event is returning; get tickets now.
By Alysia Gray Painter, NBC LA
“Meet Me at Third & Fairfax” may be the celebrated slogan of the Original Farmers Market, but that phrase tends to change up a bit during the landmark’s annual Taste of Farmers Market.
“Meet me at the table in front of Bob’s Donuts” and “I’ll see you buy the windchime place after I go get my sliders” and “Meet us in like ten minutes by the middle bar” tend to be heard more often than the venue’s famous phrase. That’s because the try-a-little-of-everything event has groups of friends moving about the market, snacking at different stops, and negotiating various reunion points after various sampling runs have wrapped.
Yeah. It’s a good night.
Taste of Farmers Market is set for Tuesday, July 12, and tickets are now on sale. Swing by the Market office and nab a few, because these go fast. Fast like a plate of Huntington Meat-made sliders go fast.
Even if you’re not a slider fan, bet you’ll find something else. There will be about 50 different stalls and market vendors offering tidbits of what they do and make best.
A dine-only ticket is $35; buy a ticket for $45 and get two beer or wine tickets.
It’s the third Taste of Farmers Market, but the icon of hanging-out-ness turns 77 in July. Which means probably millions of people have taken heed of that “Meet Me at Third & Fairfax” suggestion over the years. Which is fantastic. Fantastic x 10.
Copyright NBC Local Media
Grand Opening of The Courtyards
(Client: Clifford Beers Housing)
The Long Beach Housing Development Company, nonprofit developer Clifford Beers Housing, Inc. and the office of Councilmember Patrick O’Donnell hosted the grand opening of the new “scatter site” housing complex, The Courtyards in Long Beach, on May 19. The $12.8 million Courtyards project includes rehabilitated courtyard-style apartment properties at 1134 Stanley Ave., 1027 Redondo Ave., 1045 Redondo Ave. and 350 E. Esther St. The project provides 44 studio-style units catered t6 low-income and homeless individuals with mental illness.
Pictured, front row, from left: Julia Moore, Community Housing Management Services; Sally Lang, Wells Fargo Bank; Patrick Ure, Long Beach Housing Development officer; Anna Ulaszewski, board member for The Long Beach Housing Development Company; Frankie Watson, Courtyards resident; Yolanda Christian, Courtyards resident; Pat West, Long Beach City Manager; Crystal Wong, Egan Simon Architecture; Fabiola, Egan Simon Architecture; Sarah White, senior project manager with Clifford Beers Housing, lnc., and James Bonar, executive director of Clifford Beers Housing. Middle row, from left: Jacqueline Wagooner, Enterprise Community Loan Fund; David Howden, Corporation for Supportive Housing; Reina Turner, Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health; Dr. Marvin J. Southward, director of Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health; Patrick O’Donnell, 4th District councilmember for the City of Long Beach; Norma Lopez, Long Beach Development project manager; Dave Pilon, president of Mental Health America of Los Angeles; and Lance Simon, Egan Simon Architecture. Back row, from left: Gary Sycalik, KDG Development and Construction Consulting; John Bohling, Westport Construction, Inc.; John Egan, Egan Simon Architecture; John Howell, Egan Simon Architecture; ond Potrick Brown, choir of The Long Beach Housing Development Company. (Long Beoch Business Journol photogroph by Carlos Delgado)
Housing Caters to Formerly Homeless
(Client: Clifford Beers Housing)
By Jonathan Van Dyke, Gazettes.com
More affordable housing took root this year in Long Beach – this time it caters to the formerly homeless and those with mental health issues.
The Courtyards in Long Beach, a “scatter site” project that includes four different apartment complexes, will provide a much needed service to the city, said Norma Lopez, development project manager for the Housing Services Bureau. Its grand opening celebration is this Thursday.
Nonprofit developer Clifford Beers Housing, Inc. approached the city to do work on the project for low income and special needs residents, Lopez said. All the units are reserved only for people who make 50% or less than the median income.
“When the developer came to us, the buildings were very deteriorated and were in need of a complete rehabilitation,” Lopez said. “The rehab of all the buildings included restoration of the original architecture. We tried to bring back some of those original features (from the early 1900s). They did such a wonderful job with these buildings.”
The buildings are located at 1134 Stanley Ave., 1027 Redondo Ave., 1045 Redondo Ave. and 350 E. Esther St. Together, the buildings will provide 46 studio-style units.
New electrical, plumbing, HVAC systems, windows, doors, landscaping and interior and exterior surfaces were installed.
“It’s now in its operation phase and it’s going quite well,” said Sarah White, senior project manager of Clifford Beers Housing. “We’re very pleased.”
She said the company tried to restore, modernize and use environmentally-friendly installations with the four buildings.
The entire project cost about $12.8 million – $2.271 million provided by the Long Beach Housing Development Company and the rest through other funding, including money from the federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.
“Out of the 46 units, 23 are reserved for residents who are formerly homeless or have mental health issues,” Lopez said. “It’s a great opportunity to serve a vulnerable population and a great opportunity to serve affordable housing, which is a great need here in Long Beach.”
Construction began in March of 2010 and concluded during December. The project had been delayed for about a year due to the economy, White said.
“During a time of economic uncertainty, it was really important to have the affordable housing community active,” she said.
According to White, the construction process employed about 80 people.
The Village (also developed by Clifford Beers Housing), which is located at 456 Elm Ave., will provide services to The Courtyards. The Village is known for its recovery services, White said, delivering mental health, physical health, financial and educational services.
“In each of our developments, we seek to create housing for the special needs population that combines housing with services,” she said. “The services focus on their goals for recovery.”
The point of having the buildings only be 50% recovery citizens is so that they may strive to integrate back into society, White said. There will be a service coordinator from The Village monitoring progress at the buildings and helping where they can.
There still are several units available. Parties interested may call Community Housing Management Services at 597-6200 to inquire.
There will be a grand opening event from 3:30 to 4:30 p.m. on Thursday, May 19 at 1134 Stanley Ave. Tours will take place from 2:30 to 3:30 p.m. and 4:30 to 5:30 p.m. RSVP to cbh-rsvp@mhala.org.
L.A. to Focus Homeless Services
(Client: Home For Good)
A man at Palisades Park in Santa Monica is among an estimated 48,000 people… (Mariah Tauger / Los Angeles Times)
Supervisors agree to have county departments look at ways to increase permanent supportive housing and provide services that emphasize treatment for drug and mental health problems.
By Alexandra Zavis, Los Angeles Times
Los Angeles County supervisors agreed Tuesday to give priority to the most hard-core street dwellers when allocating housing and other homeless services.
“These are the people who need help the most,” said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who proposed the motion with Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas. “They are the ones who have been on the streets the longest amount of time…. [They] are the most in danger of getting sick and dying on the streets.”
The proposal, adopted unanimously, is part of a plan recommended by business leaders that aims within five years to put a permanent roof over the heads of all homeless veterans and the chronically homeless by making more efficient use of existing resources.
Wendy Levin, a member of the Los Angeles Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness, said Tuesday’s motion takes an “essential and bold step forward.”
The group’s plan, called “Home for Good,” proposes reallocating about $230 million in federal, state and local resources each year to pay for a rapid increase in permanent supportive housing, which includes counseling and treatment, for the most persistent street dwellers.
Although the chronically homeless make up just a quarter of the estimated 48,000 people who are homeless on any given night in Los Angeles County, they use a disproportionate share of services, including hospital emergency rooms and jails.
By focusing on housing these individuals, the plan’s authors argue, the county will free up resources for other homeless populations, such as families and youth.
In December, the Board of Supervisors instructed county Chief Executive William T Fujioka to review the plan with county departments. His recommendations were included in the motion approved Tuesday. They include developing strategies to increase the number of available housing vouchers, ensure that services are available to those who are housed, coordinate with other public and private providers and make the most of available funding.
“There was concern expressed regarding the current economic climate,” Fujioka said in his report to the board. “It is our belief, however, that it is the perfect time to work smarter, implement meaningful improvements and to develop strategies that are more efficient and that target our most costly consumers.”
The plan reflects a growing consensus among homeless advocates that those who have lived on the streets the longest are more likely to accept counseling and treatment if they don’t have to worry about where they will sleep that night. But this housing-first approach has been controversial politically.
Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich has complained about spending tax dollars to house individuals who continue to abuse drugs and avoid treatment, calling the approach “warehousing without healing.” He proposed an amendment Tuesday — approved without objection — that requires services for those who are housed to emphasize treatment for substance abuse and mental health problems.
Filling the Void in Los Angeles
(Partner David Hamlin’s Opinion Piece)
OP-ED: Business community will need to back non-profits as they provide the services lost to government cuts.
By David Hamlin
In these hard times, it isn’t easy to imagine that things could get worse. Just wait.
The ravages of the economy are about to spawn massive federal and state budget cuts, which will be concentrated in social, health and welfare services. When those cuts hit home, the impact on our non-profit sector will be far worse than the suffering the sector is already enduring.
In response, L.A.’s business community must once and for all recognize the vital role non-profits play in our economy and our non-profit sector must take bold steps.
The mean economy hit non-profits hard long before it moved legislators to take drastic action. Now, as funds for everything from day care to health care, from work force development to arts programs are slashed, the damage will be significantly wider and deeper. Most programs that received government funds will disappear or shrink, and when they do, more and more people seeking aid and comfort will turn to non-profits – demand will explode as resources shrink.
To meet this fiscal and social catastrophe, the business community has to acknowledge a stark reality: Non-profits keep businesses in business.
Employees arrive at work on time and stay until closing because their children or their aging parents (or both) are safe and secure in non-profit after-school and day care programs. Employees without health care coverage use a network of clinics and emergency rooms; without those non-profit resources, absenteeism would sky-rocket. Employers seeking well-rounded, productive employees find them because of arts and literacy programs, training centers, counseling facilities, even networking opportunities through chambers of commerce, and civic and social clubs – all non-profits.
Once the business community acknowledges its vital dependence on non-profits, it must act. At the most ambitious, business leaders can apply their skill and knowledge to critical issues, as the L.A. Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness has done. That group, which I’m involved with, developed a plan to eliminate chronic homelessness and save an enormous amount of money in the process. Business leaders can adopt this model and work with non-profit experts to
explore new practical and economic ways to develop streamlined responses to the crises the drastic cuts will create. Fresh approaches to health care, elder care, day care and after-school programs and other key services can guide us through hard times.
Making a Difference
Out of pure self-interest, business and corporate leaders must also take a close look at creating alliances with non-profits, work place contribution systems, expanded volunteer campaigns, loaned expertise, direct or in-kind contributions – all these will make a difference.
At the same time, the non-profit sector has some serious work to do. Business as usual won’t serve our community as it must be served.
In particular, it is long past time for non-profits to seriously examine the value of having a dozen or more organizations addressing the same issue. Whether the goal is job training or mental health counseling, there is almost certainly an economy of scale to be gained from consolidation. For too long, individuals and groups have started non-profits when like-minded organizations already exist. As economic pressures approach dangerous levels, smart non-profits must give serious thought to models that generate a greater return on investment and consolidate precious resources to maximum advantage. In hard times, there is no other option.
There is another major step the non-profit community must take. In vital areas – fundraising, marketing, advocacy, education and management – non-profit staff, board members and volunteers must be as skillful as possible, far more so when the stakes are as high as the economy has made them. Yet, the non-profit sector in our community relies on a capacity-building network that isn’t up to the task.
A recent study, commissioned by the Weingart Foundation in Los Angeles, found that our system for improving skills and leadership capacity in non-profits is haphazard, inadequate to the need, largely uncoordinated and fundamentally ineffective. That must be fixed. The responsibility for fixing it lies squarely with the non-profit community.
L.A.’s non-profit leaders know what is needed, they build effective programs and know how to reach out to the philanthropic community for support. Those assets should be focused immediately on the construction of a coordinated, cohesive capacity-building network that produces ever-more skillful, creative, effective and fully prepared non-profit leadership. In hard times, nothing less will do.
When the business and non-profit sectors take big, smart strides, we’ll all be stronger. If they fail to act, too many may never see an end to hard times.
David Hamlin is a partner at WHPR, which provides PR, marketing and advocacy counsel to non-profits and associations. He is a member of the L.A. Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness and the author of three books.
Paul Williams YMCA
(Client: Clifford Beers Housing)
Featured Video: A young architect’s dream from the 1920′s will be rehabilitated in downtown Los Angeles. Stream the full video here.
Los Angeles Confronts Homelessness
(Client: Home For Good)
By ADAM NAGOURNEY 12/12/10
LOS ANGELES — It was just past dusk in the upscale enclave of Brentwood as a homeless man, wrapped in a tattered gray blanket, stepped into a doorway to escape a light rain, watching the flow of people on their way to the high-end restaurants that lined the street.
Across town in Hollywood the next morning, homeless people were wandering up and down Sunset Boulevard, pushing shopping carts and slumped at bus stops. More homeless men and women could be found shuffling along the boardwalks of Venice and Santa Monica, while a few others were spotted near the heart of Beverly Hills, the very symbol of Los Angeles wealth.
And, as always, San Julian Street, the infamous center of Skid Row on the south edge of downtown Los Angeles, was teeming: a small city of people were making the street their home in a warm December sun, waiting for one of the many missions there to serve a meal.
At a time when cities across the country have made significant progress over the past decade in reducing the number of homeless, in no small part by building permanent housing, the problem seems intractable in the County of Los Angeles.
It has become a subject of acute embarrassment to some civic leaders, upset over the county’s faltering efforts, the glaring contrast of street poverty and mansion wealth, and any perception of a hardhearted Los Angeles unmoved by a problem that has motivated action in so many other cities.
For national organizations trying to eradicate homelessness, Los Angeles — with its 48,000 people living on the streets, including 6,000 veterans, according to one count — stands as a stubborn anomaly, an outlier at a time when there has been progress, albeit modest and at times fitful, in so many cities.
Its designation as the homeless capital of America, a title that people here dislike but do not contest, seems increasingly indisputable.
“If we want to end homelessness in this country, we have to do something about L.A.; it is the biggest nut,” said Nan Roman, the president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness. “It has more homeless people than anyplace else.”
Neil J. Donovan, the executive director of the National Coalition for the Homeless, said he believed that, after years of decline, there had been a slight rise in the number of homeless nationally this year because of the economic downturn, and that Los Angeles had led the way.
“Los Angeles’s homeless problem is growing faster than the overall national problem,” he said, “trending upwards in every demographic, dashing every hope of progress anywhere.”
In a reflection of the growing concern here, a task force created by the Chamber of Commerce and the United Way of Greater Los Angeles has stepped in with a plan, called Home for Good, to end homelessness here in five years. The idea is to, among other things, build housing for 12,000 of the chronically unemployed and provide food, maintenance and other services at a cost of $235 million a year.
The proposal, based on the task force’s study of what other cities had done, was embraced by political and civic leaders even as it served as a reminder of how many of these plans have failed over the years.
“This is not rocket science,” said Zev Yaroslavsky of the County Board of Supervisors. “It’s been done in New York, it’s been done in Atlanta, and it’s been done in San Francisco.”
Part of the impetus for this most recent flurry of attention is concern in the business and political communities that the epidemic is threatening to tarnish Los Angeles’s national image and undercut a campaign to promote tourism, particularly in downtown, which has been in the midst of a transformation of sorts, with a boom of museums, concert halls, restaurants, boutiques, parks and lofts.
The gentrification has pushed many of the homeless people south, but they can still be seen settled on benches and patches of grass in the center of downtown.
“If you have a homeless problem, then your sense of security is diminished, and that makes people not want to come,” said Jerry Neuman, a co-chairman of the task force. “It’s a problem that diminishes us in many ways: the way we view ourselves and the way other people view us.”
Fittingly enough, it was even the subject of a movie last year, “The Soloist,” which portrayed the relationship between a Los Angeles Times columnist, Steve Lopez, who has written extensively about the homeless, and a musician living on the streets.
The obstacles seem particularly great in this part of the country. The warm climate has always been a draw for homeless people. And the fact that people sleeping outside rarely die of exposure means there is less pressure on civic leaders to act. (In New York City, when a homeless woman known only as “Mama” was found dead at Grand Central Terminal on a frigid Christmas in 1985, it was front-page news that inspired a campaign to deal with the epidemic.)
The governmental structure here, of a county that includes 88 cities and a maze of conflicting jurisdictions, responsibilities and boundaries, has defused responsibility and made it nearly impossible for any one organization or person to take charge.
And Los Angeles is a place where people drive almost everywhere, so there are fewer of the reminders of homelessness — walking around a sleeping person on a sidewalk, responding to requests for money at the corner — that are common in concentrated cities like New York.
“It’s easy to get up in the morning, go to work, drive home and never encounter someone who is homeless,” said Wendy Greuel, the Los Angeles city controller. “I don’t think it’s seeped into the public’s consciousness that homelessness is a problem.”
The homelessness task force offered its plan at a conference that attracted some of the top elected officials here, including Mayor Antonio R. Villaraigosa and three of the five members of the Board of Supervisors, a notable show of political support.
“We believe that with the release of this plan, we now have a blueprint to end chronic homelessness and veteran homelessness,” said Christine Marge, director of housing for the United Way of Greater Los Angeles.
Yet in a time of severe budget retrenchment, the five-year goal seems daunting. Even though the drafters of the plan say that no new money will be needed to finance it — Los Angeles is already spending more than $235 million a year on hospital, overnight housing and police costs dealing with the homeless — government financing of all social services has come under assault.
“I don’t for a minute think it’s not going to require a tremendous amount of political will to make it happen,” said Richard Bloom, the mayor of Santa Monica. “Do I think it can happen? Yes, because I’ve seen what happens in other cities, like New York City, Denver and Boston.”
Still, Mr. Bloom, who said he regularly attended conferences involving officials from other communities, added: “Our numbers are way out of whack with those numbers I hear elsewhere. It’s just so much more enormous and daunting here.”
Getting to Work on Homelessness
(Client: Skid Row Housing Trust)
Getting to Work on Homelessness
OP-ED: An L.A. task force applies business principles and draws up an action plan to tackle a
chronic civil problem.
By RENEE WHITE FRASER and JERRY NEUMAN 11/15/10
Why would 22 successful business leaders spend more than a year evaluating homelessness in greater Los Angeles?
Because when it comes to homelessness, it is long past time to take care of business.
The Los Angeles Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness was created in 2009 by the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce and United Way of Greater Los Angeles. Composed of executives from fields as diverse as real estate, logistics, communications, security, law and finance, the group has done what executives facing a challenge always do – develop an accurate status report, evaluate resources, conduct a cost analysis and chart an action plan.
The task force walked Skid Row and met with successful supportive housing developers and the once-homeless residents the developers’ housing supports. We learned that New York had an effective approach to locating and housing chronic homeless folks, so we invited the organization that built that program to enlighten us.
We recognized that funding for homeless programs flows in great measure through Washington, D.C., so we dispatched a delegation to meet with federal officials and visit with the L.A. congressional caucus. We learned that Denver has a successful campaign to end chronic homelessness and went there to examine what they did and how, meeting with political experts, housing providers, police and executives who created a jobs program for formerly homeless individuals.
The task force audited finances and what we found staggered us: In greater Los Angeles, we spend at least $875 million on homelessness every year. Our chronically homeless constitute only 25 percent of our homeless population yet, for good reasons, they consume up to 74 percent of the total we spend. Chronically homeless individuals rely on ultra-expensive emergency room health care, consume significant mental health resources because they are often mentally disabled or addicted or both, and rely heavily on our hodgepodge network of case management, nongovernment agencies and non-profits.
Our cost-benefit analysis is as stunning as the raw numbers. Our annual investment is enormous, the return on it negligible. Our region remains the homeless capital of the nation, and our population of chronic and veteran homeless remains essentially constant. We manage our homeless population, but we do not appreciably reduce it. We generate precious little return on investment.
Once we had reliable data on the current state of affairs, the task force took the next step. We evaluated best practices, worked the data, explored the options, calculated the costs and amortized them over a carefully planned realistic calendar. Once we had a solid framework, we shared our plan to those who will work with it – government leaders and the agencies they supervise, social serviceagencies, business leaders, law enforcement – to incorporate their input.
Home for Good
We came to a conclusion as solid as it is remarkable: We can end chronic and veteran homelessness in greater Los Angeles in five years and spend less than we do now. We project a net cost avoidance of at least 40 percent over five years when our recommendations are implemented. (The task force’s report, Home for Good, is available at homeforgoodla.org.)
This will not be easy. We don’t gather data about homeless individuals well and we don’t use what we gather effectively. We need to focus our resources on specific outcomes and we need to measure progress frequently and rigorously. We must rely on permanent supportive housing to a far greater extent than we do now. We must create an efficient housing system for chronic and veteran homeless (at least 50 percent of the housing stock we need already exists, we just don’t use it wisely).
The task force will not be content to submit our work and see it shelved. Instead, we’re going to stay on the job until the job is done. Our plan will benefit the community in which we live and work, so we won’t go away – we will take care of business.
Why are 22 successful business leaders willing to tackle a seemingly insurmountable problem? Because the diminution of our community and its inhabitants must end, because this problem is not insurmountable and, in fact, will be solved, because taking care of our neighbors is our social responsibility. Because we hope you wilsee it as yours.
Renee White Fraser, Ph.D., is the chief executive of Fraser Communications in Los Angeles. Jerry Neuman is a partner in the law firm Sheppard Mullin in Los Angeles. They co-chair the Los Angeles Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness.
Program Seeks to Aid Hard-Core Homeless
(Client: Skid Row Housing Trust)
Plan drafted by a civic task force hopes to slash costs by getting the chronically homeless into housing. But Supervisor Antonovich calls the controversial approach ‘warehousing without healing.’
By Alexandra Zavis, Times Staff Writer 11/09/10
Prominent business leaders are putting their weight behind a plan that they say could make a major dent in homelessness in Los Angeles County, embracing a strategy that will face significant political opposition.
The blueprint they plan to unveil Tuesday seeks to put a permanent roof over the heads of the most entrenched street dwellers, then provide them as much counseling and treatment as they will use.
Because the chronically homeless take up a disproportionate share of resources, the plan’s authors argue that focusing on housing them will ultimately free up services for the many more people who need only temporary help to get back on their feet.
“For too long, Los Angeles County has been the homeless capital of the nation,” Jerry Neuman and Renee White Fraser, co-chairs of the Los Angeles Business Leaders Task Force on Homelessness, wrote in an introductory letter. “It need not be this way.”
Representatives of 22 organizations — including JP Morgan Chase, NBC Universal and Caltech — formed the task force in September 2009 after United Way of Greater L.A. approached the Los Angeles Chamber of Commerce about engaging business leaders to find solutions to homelessness.
The task force spent 10 months meeting with local and national experts and visiting programs that have reduced homelessness in cities such as Denver and Santa Monica.
The key, task force members say, will be getting dozens of local institutions unified on the project. The group is asking county and city authorities, social service organizations, law enforcement agencies and faith-based groups to sign on to a detailed plan they call “Home for Good” by Dec. 1.
Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who initiated a pilot version of the housing-first strategy known as Project 50, said he gave the plan high marks.
“It is ambitious. It is doable,” he said. “I hope the Board of Supervisors will endorse the plan.”
But the approach is controversial. Most chronically homeless people have serious physical, mental or substance abuse problems. Supervisor Michael D. Antonovich has complained about spending tax dollars to provide housing to individuals who continue to abuse drugs and avoid treatment, calling the approach “warehousing without healing.”
“The supervisor won’t agree to any plan to deal with homelessness that does not have mandatory mental health and substance abuse treatment as a component,” said Antonovich’s spokesman, Tony Bell.
Neuman, a partner at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, said local authorities spend $650 million a year on the chronically homeless, who are heavy users of hospital emergency rooms, jail cells and other crisis services. The figure accounts for about three-quarters of annual spending on homeless services, although the chronically homeless make up only a quarter of 48,000 or more people sleeping on the streets, in cars and in shelters on any given night in Los Angeles County.
“What we found is that if you can take those people into permanent supportive housing, you can save about 40% of those dollars,” Neuman said, citing two local studies.
Neuman, a partner at Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton LLP, said local authorities spend $650 million a year on the chronically homeless, who are heavy users of hospital emergency rooms, jail cells and other crisis services. The figure accounts for about three-quarters of annual spending on homeless services, although the chronically homeless make up only a quarter of 48,000 or more people sleeping on the streets, in cars and in shelters on any given night in Los Angeles County.
“What we found is that if you can take those people into permanent supportive housing, you can save about 40% of those dollars,” Neuman said, citing two local studies.
Proponents of the housing-first approach argue that people are more likely to stick to treatment regimens when they don’t have to worry about where they will be sleeping. And if they relapse, social workers know where to find them.
When Project 50 staff found 63-year-old George Givens on the streets of skid row, he had untreated schizophrenia. But since moving into a downtown studio apartment, he collects his medicine every morning from a nurse practitioner who works in the next building.
It took the staff more than two years to persuade Givens to come in off the streets, where he had survived for a decade by collecting cans, cardboard and bottles to recycle. He said others who offered to help him had let him down. But he said he does not miss “being out in the rain and the cold and the pickpockets.”
The county program, which initially targeted the 50 people most likely to die on the streets of skid row, has housed 107 people since January 2008. Of the 68 housed in the first two years, 51 remain in the program, seven died, four were incarcerated and six dropped out.
By reallocating an average of $230 million in existing resources each year, the task force argues that by 2015, it would be possible to house all of the estimated 12,000 people who have been living on county streets for more than a year. Half would be accommodated in existing units of supportive housing, which turn over at a rate of 15% to 20% a year. The rest would be provided through new construction, rehabilitation of existing buildings and the creation of mobile teams to provide services to scattered sites.
An additional 6,000 newly homeless veterans could also be housed, using resources from the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, according to the task force.
Helen Berberian, Antonovich’s social services deputy, questioned whether it was fair to set aside housing subsidies for the chronically homeless, when other vulnerable people had been waiting years for them.
“The sad thing is that we just don’t have enough housing resources, period,” she said.
The plan also relies on communities to share not only data collected on their homeless populations but also the burden of housing the county’s homeless.
“I think NIMBYism is one of the greatest issues we are going to be tackling,” Neuman said. “But the reality is we can create a system which has a safety net for all those people and ends chronic homelessness, so nobody has to be on the streets for a year or longer.”