Mayor Eric Garcetti and City Council members announced a "state of emergency" on homelessness in Los Angeles and proposed a $100 million fund for housing and resources to combat it outside City Hall Tuesday.
"The human suffering that occurs on Skid Row is astonishing - it will literally take your breath away," said Councilman Jose Huizar, co-chair of the Los Angeles Homeless and Poverty Committee, in a speech during the announcement. "That kind of suffering, that kind of desperation, should not be happening in the City of Los Angeles, but it is. It's a humanitarian crisis and a moral shame."
Garcetti joined the chairs of the Homeless and Poverty Committee and Council President Herb Wesson to discuss how to leverage the spending "to ensure an ongoing revenue stream to support the program," according to a statement from Wesson's office.
"We must do everything we can now to get people off the streets and into housing with the resources we have available," Garcetti said.
Kevin Michael Key, once homeless and an addict, now works on Skid Row downtown to help people get on their feet. He said he's heard city officials make promises before.
"Every time we have a press conference and the politicians gets stuck in a bureaucratic morass," Key said.
But this time, the politicians promise it's different, because the homeless population has increased 12 percent in the last two years, city officials said.
Garcetti, along with the LA County board of supervisors, Home for the Good, the LA Homeless Services Authority and others, are working on a "separate, but coordinated approach" for the plan that will unravel along the coming weeks.
Almost $13 million of the plan will provide immediate funding, and the entire $100 million will provide long-term solutions, Huizar said.
In a letter to City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana, Garcetti introduced him to the plan that proposes $5 million for short-term rental housing that could rehouse around 1,000 homeless people for six to nine months and a proposed $5.1 million for the same temporary housing for homeless veterans.
Garcetti also proposed $665,000 to open winter shelters a month early and to keep them open a month longer, with 24/7 services when it rains.
A proposed $1 million will go toward regional facilities where homeless can store belongings, do laundry, take showers and get referrals to services, and another $1 million for a "coordinated-entry-system" that helps manage resources so emergency responders can reach out to more homeless individuals.
"A substantial infusion of resources is the only way to deal with the emergency we face," said Councilman Marqueece Harris-Dawson, co-chair of the Homeless and Poverty Committee. "(The) investment, along with commitment and coordination with Los Angeles County, neighboring cities and the private sector, can set us on a path to sustainable recovery."
With these efforts expected to be concluded in the winter, Garcetti said he hopes they can give the city "momentum needed to make real progress over the coming year" and to help prepare for the severe conditions of the upcoming El Niño.
Garcetti and council members recently came under fire from advocate groups to spend more money toward housing for the homeless rather than toward law enforcement that keeps the homeless off the streets.
"Unless we change our approach, this crisis will continue to worsen," Huizar said. "For too long, our strategies have been dictated by the latest lawsuit. For too long, we've had a containment policy. Out of sight, out of mind. This approach to homelessness has failed. We can't ignore the problem, and we can't arrest our way out of it."
The $100 million proposal requires full approval from the council before funding can take effect.
