By ERIKA MARTIN | Reporter
Regional administrations have scrambled to allocate more money to address Los Angeles’ homelessness crisis, yet those looking for help often remain without shelter due to the city’s chronic housing shortage.
That unexpected discrepancy has emerged as the main roadblock in helping the more vulnerable people in the community at the Pacific Palisades Task Force on Homelessness’ (PPTFH) June 8 meeting.
The meeting brought together government representatives, nonprofits and community organizers in an effort to build more collaboration and share learning on the crisis.
Despite intensified policies to address the issue, there are 28,464 homeless individuals living in the city. That is a 10 percent jump over 2015 according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA). Rising house prices have locked many out of even a basic home.
The Palisades’ local task force is entering its sixth month of partnership with Ocean Park Community Center (OPCC), which brings the homeless individuals into shelter.
Luther Richert, project director for OPCC’s Santa Monica shelter, said the outreach team of Glanda Sherman and Maureen Rivas is interacting with 50 people on a regular basis.
Since January, 15 homeless individuals have been taken off the streets.
Two are in permanent housing, six have housing vouchers and three of those with vouchers have identified apartments and will be moving in soon.
“Right now it looks very optimistic that a lot of the people we are working with will qualify for vouchers, but it is a huge challenge right now to find apartments,” Richert said.
State officials are addressing that gap according to Stephanie Cohen, senior field representative for Assemblymember Richard Bloom.
She said the State Assembly has passed three housing bills endorsed by Gov. Jerry Brown to “protect current stock of affordable housing while making it easier to create additional units of affordable housing.” The measures are now awaiting action in the Senate.
Like many city and county officials, Blum believes in a housing-first approach to homeless services, “and as we all know we have a huge lack of affordable housing, not just for homelessness but for middle-class people as well,” Cohen noted.
She said there will be a clearer picture of allocations to such projects after the state budget is passed, which was due to happen June 15.
Lila Kalaf, State Senator Ben Allen’s homelessness and education deputy, said until now there has been a problem getting different agencies to co-ordinate their efforts.
She said three state initiatives, including No Place Like Home, which shelters victims of mental illness, aim to change that. She was backed by Molly Riesman, county supervisor Sheila Kuehl’s Housing and Homelessness Deputy
“We have a lot to overcome,” Reisman said, pointing out that more than 25,000 housing units must be created to end homelessness in LA County.
“One of our biggest challenges right now is that we’re actually housing more people at a faster rate than we’ve ever housed before in our homeless system,” Reisman said. “For every 10 people that we get out of homelessness, 11 or 12 are falling into homelessness, which is why even though we’re doing a ton our numbers continue to go up.”
The city is using a three-pillar approach of housing, prevention and street engagement, according to Melissa Miller, a homelessness policy analyst in Mayor Eric Garcetti’s office. So far, officials have increased funding for homelessness outreach by $3 million, increased winter shelter beds by 50 percent, used general fund dollars for housing vouchers and allocated $10 million to rapid re-housing, she said. The recently approved 2016-2017 budget includes $138 million dedicated to homeless services and housing.
Daniel Tamm, Mayor Eric Garcetti’s regional representative for West LA, pointed out that “ultimately that’s not going to be enough. Eventually—sooner rather than later—a dedicated stream of funding is going to have to be found.”
On the regulatory end, Miller said the LA Police Department is assembling teams trained specifically to respond to homeless issues under its Homeless Outreach Partnership Endeavor, or H.O.P.E., initiative.
Miller said the mayor’s strategies include “due criminalization of homelessness,” and to further this end the city has tentative approval of Amendment 56.11. The change in city code would reduce the amount of personal items a person can have on a street, restrict tents between 6 a.m. and 9 p.m. and define and prohibit bulky items.
However, due to the ruling in the Jones vs. Los Angeles lawsuit that prohibits the city from arresting those sleeping on the street when there are no available shelter beds, Miller said the initiative is in “somewhat of a freeze while we sort these things out to enforce the ordinance.”
The city is also trying to get more landlords to accept vouchers. “The demand is far outpacing the supply, and the supply that does exist needs to be open to those who need it,” Miller said.
Nancy Rosenquist, a homeless resident of Malibu, said she has been trying to get back on her feet but has been impeded by ineffective public services.
“I’m not a vagrant. I don’t panhandle. I’m working this through the system,” she said. “The system keeps knocking me down and that’s why a lot of these people are still on the streets. You get knocked down enough times, you just get tired of getting back up on your feet again.”
The PPTFH meeting also allowed residents of cities across the region to share strategies and lessons learned. In attendance were officials from the cities of Malibu, Beverly Hills, Hermosa Beach, as well as nonprofit workers from the South Bay Coalition and People Assisting the Homeless (PATH).
Meredith Berkson, director of South County programs for PATH, said the organization has been executing regional street outreach similar to OPCC’s program since February. However, she urged that nonprofits need support from the public sector to successfully address homelessness.
“Organizations like PATH and OPCC can do a lot but we can’t do it alone,” she said. “What we really value is partnership with cities, law enforcement, faith-based and business communities. We all need to work together and mobilize to address this issue.”
South Bay Coalition representative Jennifer La Marque echoed that with homeless individuals traveling from city to city, a regional approach is vital. The organization worked with County Supervisors Don Knabe and Mark Ridley Thomas to secure $600,000 to fund an outreach program for the South Bay similar to those executed by PATH and OPCC.
Beverly Hills Human Services Administrator James Latta said the city has been successfully addressing homelessness for eight years with its “ambassador program.” The initiative, funded by business improvement districts, employs individuals to patrol city parking lots at night, provide customer service for tourists and perform safety checks.
However, Latta stressed that the city is spending up to $100,000 a year to manage homeless—not alleviate it. “That’s a crisis mode that’s wasting all our taxpayers’ money and not helping anyone,” he said.
In Malibu, homelessness has been visibly increasing over the past year. Pamela Ulich of the Malibu Task Force On Homelessness said the organization plans to mimic PPTFH’s program and has entered a contract with OPCC. “We are here because we were inspired by you,” she said.
Outgoing PPTFH chair Maryam Zar said the organization’s next step will be to develop a messaging campaign to educate residents on homeless issues.
“Here in the Palisades we’ve covered a lot of ground, but one thing we’ve just begun to talk about is educating the public and having some sort of a campaign that helps everyone identify an effective way to interface with our homeless population,” she said.
Zar also announced that the organization is incorporating as a 501(c)(3). She will be stepping down as chair and Doug McCormick will serve as president. Zar also reported that the Palisades will be receiving additional law enforcement on beaches during the summer.
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