2008 Report Card on Homelessness in Los Angeles

June 23, 2008.  This Report Card grades the work and efforts of Los Angeles as it seeks to reduce and eliminate homelessness, and is the first in an annual series designed to measure progress and efforts toward ending homelessness.

Approximately 141,737 residents of the Los Angeles County Continuum of Care area are homeless at some point over the course of the year. While there are signs that homelessness is declining, the total number of homeless men, women, and children remains unacceptably high. The overall assessment across a variety of action areas related to homelessness is a D+. This report card is not a judgment about specific jurisdictions, but rather is about our collective progress and efforts as a community. Detailed evaluations are summarized in the report, and suggest that the Los Angeles region has much work to do. This Report Card was compiled by:

• Jennifer Wolch, USC
• Daniel Warshawsky, USC
• Gary Blasi, UCLA
• Michael Dear, USC
• Daniel Flaming, Economic Roundtable
• Paul Tepper, USC

and evaluated by 38 researchers.

Download the Report:
2008 Report Card on Homelessness in Los Angeles  (15 MB, Adobe Acrobat, 22 pages)

September 24, 2007.  Authored by Professor Gary Blasi, UCLA School of Law & the UCLA School of Law Fact Investigation Clinic, this is the first year report of the Safer Cities Initiative on Skid Row.

This investigation includes a review of about 15,000 pages of public records and the analysis of multiple computer databases provided under the California Public Records Act by the Los Angeles Police Department, the Office of the City Attorney, and the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. The authors also conducted more than 200 interviews of people with special knowledge of one or more aspects of the problem.  Below is a direct link to the report in Adobe PDF format:

Policing Our Way Out of Homelessness?  (980 KB, Adobe Acrobat, 51 pages) 

A Reality-Based Approach to Ending Homelessness in Los Angeles

January 30, 2007.  In Los Angeles today, current policy on homelessness is preoccupied with providing emergency shelter beds and policing people who are homeless. Skid Row disproportionately – and unfairly – cares for the region’s homeless people because so many other communities in Los Angeles County provide no services to help them. These communities are using Skid Row as their solution to homelessness. Everyone in LA wins if we work together to end homelessness.

These reports are a petition to policy makers to take immediate and informed action to address homelessness.  The reports were written by:

• Gary Blasi, UCLA
• Michael Dear, USC
• Dan Flaming, Economic Roundtable
• Paul Koegel, RAND
• Paul Tepper, WCA Development Corporation
• Jennifer Wolch, USC

and signed by 48 other LA-based academic researchers.

Download Both Reports:
A Reality Based Approach to End Homelessness in Los Angeles  (1.4 MB, Adobe Acrobat, 8 pages)
Ending Homelessness in Los Angeles - Research Report  (1.5 MB, Adobe Acrobat, 28 pages)

Greater LA Homeless Count 2007

January 2007.  LAHSA conducted the 2007 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count during the month of January, with an interview survey conducted from February through April.  On the nights of Jan. 23rd, 24th and 25th, LAHSA deployed volunteers (some of them formerly homeless or advocacy workers) across the county to canvass designated areas and tally the numbers of homeless people they find.  Information about the count, including the methodology to be used, volunteer registration and training, and other information can be found on the LAHSA web site.

Read More: 2007 Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count

Op-Ed Article: "5 Steps to Get Out of Skid Row"
By Gary Blasi, Michael Dear and Jennifer Wolch

December 31, 2006. Officials in L.A. County have used skid row to "contain" homelessness, but it's clear the system has failed.  About the authors: Gary Blasi is a professor of law at UCLA Law School; Michael Dear is a professor of geography at USC; and Jennifer Wolch is a professor of geography and director of the USC Center for Sustainable Cities.

Read It: 5 Steps to Get Out of Skid Row

Op-Ed Article: "Dumping the Homeless on Hospitals"
By Michael R. Cousineau

December 31, 2006. The outcry at patient dumping on skid row shouldn't be directed at hospitals, but at governments that let homelessness continue.  About the author: Michael R. Cousineau is associate professor of research and the director of the Center for Community Health Studies at the USC Keck School of Medicine.

Read It: Dumping the Homeless on Hospitals

Other Recent News:

"Referral Guide for Homeless Children, Youth and Families" Released

October 2006. This expanded and updated guide to homeless service providers in Los Angeles County provides detailed agency information for each Service Planning Area, with accompanying reference maps.

The guide was commissioned and underwritten by the Los Angeles County Office of Education.

Download It: Referral Guide for Homeless Children, Youth and Families  (6.5 MB, Adobe Acrobat, 122 pages)

Los Angeles Homeless Prevention Initiative: Homeless and Housing Program Fund

September 2006. The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors allocated $80 million for a broad range of county services to reduce and prevent homelessness.

Download It: LA County Homeless and Housing Program  (3.8 MB, Adobe Acrobat, 84 pages)

10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness

August 2006. From 2002 through 2004 the Economic Roundtable and the Institute for the Study of Homelessness and Poverty at the Weingart Center carried out research, listened to ideas from community stakeholders, and met with public officials in order to prepare this 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness on behalf of Bring LA Home. This strategic plan was the result of that effort.

Download It: 10-Year Strategy to End Homelessness  (1.6 MB, Adobe Acrobat, 76 pages)

Bring LA Home: The Campaign to End Homelessness - Plan Released
April 6, 2006

Bring Los Angeles Home, the campaign initiated by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) and the Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness (LACEH&H) in January 2002, released a homeless plan titled "Bring Los Angeles Home."

Download It: Bring LA Home Plan (2.2 MB, Adobe Acrobat, 117 pages)

Press coverage (registration required for some articles):

• "The Authority to Solve" Editorial, Los Angeles Times (April, 3 2006)
• "$12 Billion for L.A.'s Homeless? Key Panel Offers Plan to End County's Problem" by Troy Anderson, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Daily News (April 6, 2006)
• "One Plan to Lead Them All" Editorial, Los Angeles Times (April, 6 2006)
   

LA County Homeless Prevention Initiative - Approved by the Board of Supervisors
April 4, 2006

The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors approved a $100-million plan to reduce the concentration of homeless services in skid row by establishing five centers across the county that would provide temporary shelter and social services for transients.

In addition, the county will establish a special community court to allow transients with outstanding warrants for misdemeanor quality-of-life crimes to have warrants resolved after completing mental health or narcotics recovery programs.

The plan calls for a dedicated center for homeless families, located downtown but designed to move people quickly out of the area and into long-term housing throughout the region. It also calls for programs aimed at providing immediate access to social services, benefits and housing for people who would otherwise be homeless upon discharge from county hospitals and correctional facilities.

The Board approved a new county staff position of Coordinator of Homeless and Service Enriched Housing Initiatives to assist in coordinating the County's homeless and housing initiatives to reduce the number of homeless residents.

Download It: LA County Homeless Prevention Initiative (3.2 MB, Adobe Acrobat, 51 pages)

Press coverage (registration required for some articles):

• "Homeless Plan Stirs Debate Among Board [of Supervisors]" by Troy Anderson, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Daily News (March 28, 2006)
• "L.A. County OKs 'Historic' Homeless Plan: The $100-million effort includes a controversial proposal to move some services for transients from downtown to suburban areas." By Cara Mia DiMassa, Los Angeles Times (April 5, 2006)
• "Homeless Plan Raises Optimism: New County Step Watched" by Eugene Tong, Staff writer, Los Angeles Daily News ( April, 6 2006)
• "Possible Homeless Centers Identified: L.A. County reviews 14 drop-in sites to find 5 that could become full-service shelters." By Cara Mia DiMassa and Richard Winton, Los Angeles Times (April 6, 2006)
• "Appraising the county's homeless plan" Op/Ed by City of Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and LA City Councilwoman Jan Perry, Los Angeles Times ( April, 6 2006)
• "Transients Hope to Get Back into Stable Life" By Dana Bartholomew, Staff Writer, Los Angeles Daily News ( April, 7 2006)