OPINION DAILY
A homeless breakthrough?
Project 50’s early success could make the city and county see the light on agreeing to a single plan.
The most vulnerable person living on the streets of skid row is a 65-year-old veteran who has been homeless for 37 years. He has kidney and liver disease, has been to hospital emergency rooms four times in the last three months and has been arrested four times in the last six months.
Los Angeles County officials know this because 25 county workers canvassed downtown streets in December, waking and interviewing people in the early morning hours. They ended up with a list of 50 in a sort of catalog of doom and hope. Doom, because the 50 are those most likely to die on the streets if not rescued (see, for example, the Dec. 21 report (PDF) from the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness, which calculates homeless deaths in the county at one every day). And hope, because the county and city have promised to put them in permanent homes with the medical, mental, drug and other care that they need.
It's part of Project 50, imported from New York City by Common Ground, the organization that has achieved some notable success in getting chronically homeless people off Manhattan's streets and into housing and care.
At a briefing last month, county workers and leaders were cautiously upbeat about the project, and there's no reason they shouldn't be. They bit off a piece of the homelessness problem that is relatively easy to digest.
There are more than 70,000 people living in the parks, under the freeway offramps and on the streets of Los Angeles County. As Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky put it, "The problem is just too daunting, so we go on and do other things."
Housing 50 people, though, ought to be something that City Hall, with its housing funds and programs, and Los Angeles County, with its service programs, can manage.
The region has the wealth and expertise to end chronic homelessness and, in fact, may also have the service providers already on hand to do what Common Ground is doing. But importing this team from New York cut through the starts-and-stops of homeless fixes that have been tried here before.
City and county government have sometimes appeared to be in the doldrums on homelessness, like sailors who used to get stuck in the tropics when the winds disappeared. Some ships were stranded forever, and their passengers died of hunger, thirst and boredom. Others appeared stalled but actually were making great progress as the currents, rather than the winds, moved them forward.
It can be hard to tell whether the city and county are drifting or moving toward a common destination. A county plan for five service centers was scrapped, in part because of neighborhood resistance. The city was sued over its law to ban sidewalk sleeping and criticized over its initiative to step up skid row arrests.
Still, there is evidence that both governments are making some progress. Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa has reinvented housing strategies while designating $100 million for housing the homeless. The county, while abandoning its five-centers plan, is putting up an equal amount for supportive services in those new homes.
County Supervisor Gloria Molina is leading efforts to get children off the streets, instituting a zero-tolerance policy for kids on skid row. Last year, Molina's efforts pulled 696 children into shelters and, of them, 160 into permanent housing.
So Project 50 should be watched, rather than dismissed as a ridiculously puny response. Phase 1 — gathering data — was a success. Now, this month, begins Phase 2: putting the 50 in homes. Then comes Phase 3 and the real challenge: keeping them there.
For the effort ever to go beyond 50, much more is required. New York City spends more than $1.7 billion a year on housing and caring for the homeless, so L.A.'s financial commitment still falls far short.
The county must agree to join the city's process for funding supportive housing. The county and city must join on a 10-year plan for getting the homeless housed. And perhaps the biggest challenge: Communities must make room for supportive housing.
But Project 50, if it works, can help start moving the players in the same direction.
FOR THE RECORD: Homeless: An article in Monday's California section about a Los Angeles County proposal for helping 50 of the most vulnerable homeless people on downtown's skid row misquoted Philip Mangano of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. He was quoted as saying the chronically homeless are "fragile in terms of both fiscal and psychological health." He actually said "physical," not "fiscal." —
FOR THE RECORD: Homeless program: An article in the Nov. 19 California section stated incorrectly that the homeless advocacy organization Common Ground provides traditional shelter-type housing for homeless people. The organization provides mainly permanent housing with social services, as well as long-term transitional housing. —
"A lot of these folks fall through the cracks when they go through the shelters," said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a major proponent of the project. "If we can't make this work, then we've got a problem." On Tuesday, the board will probably approve two contracts with homeless advocacy groups to provide training and housing for the program. Four of the five supervisors have indicated they support the program. The county has struggled to address the vast homelessness problem. A year ago, supervisors approved an unprecedented $100-million homeless initiative, anchored by five regional assistance centers. But the program faltered after communities balked at the prospect of homeless people coming to their neighborhoods. The county quietly switched gears, deciding instead to fund private organizations and smaller efforts, such as a housing program for families on skid row. The county's slow progress has fueled skepticism from some. Many of the details of Project 50 -- including cost, staffing and location -- have yet to be worked out. The board is expected to ask Tuesday for a more detailed plan within 30 days. About one-third of the county's roughly 70,000 homeless people are classified as chronically homeless -- meaning they have lived on the streets for a year or more and have disabilities such as AIDS or mental illness. Many experts say placing the chronically homeless in permanent housing with social services nearby is more effective than providing them with temporary shelter and more effective than requiring them to get sober before finding them housing. The numbers back up that position: 85% of homeless people living in supportive housing stay off the streets, said Gary Blasi, a UCLA law professor who has studied homelessness. Chronically homeless people are "fragile in terms of both fiscal and psychological health," said Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which has endorsed such "housing first" programs. "Delivering the treatment and other services that they need is more effectively done when a person is in a stable location," Mangano said. New York City-based Common Ground, which is slated to get one of the two county contracts, housed many of the homeless people living in Times Square and helped launch similar efforts elsewhere. The agency's staff will train local teams to survey skid row residents. Outreach workers will take a visual inventory of the area over a two-week period to observe who sleeps there regularly. Officials will follow up in person, talking to as many people as possible to learn about their health, time spent on the streets and other factors to determine how vulnerable they are. The so-called vulnerability index will determine those most at risk of dying on skid row, and outreach workers will talk with them about moving voluntarily into supportive housing provided by the Skid Row Housing Trust, which is expected to be awarded the second contract Tuesday. The organization helps refurbish and provide housing to the homeless and other needy people. The 50 people identified will have caseworkers to help them and nearby support services, such as mental health and substance abuse counselors. The Department of Veterans Affairs of Greater Los Angeles will work with the street teams to identify veterans, who represent 12% of the county's homeless population. Common Ground has long worked to develop traditional shelter-type housing for homeless people in New York and elsewhere. The agency claims its Times Square project, similar to the program proposed in Los Angeles, helped house about 90% of the people living on the streets in that part of Manhattan. It also is bringing its "street to home" approach to areas of Brooklyn and Queens. The costs of shelter, emergency room care and incarceration can range from $40,000 to $150,000 per homeless person per year, said Blasi, the UCLA professor. Supportive housing for one individual costs between $14,000 and $25,000, he added. County officials acknowledge criticism that the program targets a small group in a large population of needy people, but they hope to eventually expand it across skid row and elsewhere. Some advocates agree with the county and say starting slow is the way to go. Rebecca Isaacs, executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, said "the idea is to pick something . . . that is manageable" and can become a model for a larger effort. But some question the county's ability to pull off this new project and wonder whether it eventually will include enough people to make a difference in what is widely acknowledged to be the nation's largest homeless population. "It's a step in the right direction, but, in my opinion, it's too small of a step," said Orlando Ward, public affairs director for skid row's Midnight Mission. "Let's get this elephant moving." Ward said local officials tend to "just build permanent supportive housing and hope somebody lands in it. "L.A. has never been that sophisticated in their approach," he said. Former software developer Brian Tierney should know. When Tierney, 48, lost his job, he said he drifted from the sidewalks of Long Beach to L.A.'s skid row, living outside "like an animal" for several years before chance and some kind strangers helped guide him to a small, clean, subsidized apartment at the St. George Hotel downtown. But he thinks Project 50 could be a hard sell to the people who need it most. After a recent police crackdown cleared some of skid row's streets, "the people that are left out there are really hard-core street people," Tierney said. "Those people have been out there so long, they would be really uncomfortable inside." Reaching that population requires a gentle, skillful approach, said Tierney, who lives in an 86-unit building with support services similar to those envisioned in Project 50. The St. George offers a medical examination room in the basement, as well as caseworkers, a psychiatrist, a doctor and a nurse. The program is funded largely by federal and other grants. L.A. City Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes parts of skid row, said she hopes Project 50 can build on existing programs run by local agencies. And she'd prefer to see people already in emergency shelter beds given the first chance at more permanent supportive housing. "They've already made a proactive choice to come in off the street into a bed," said Perry. "Their chances of recovery are already enhanced." Los Angeles has long lagged behind other cities in offering modern homeless services, traditionally emphasizing shelter beds clustered on skid row rather than stable housing with support services, according to advocates elsewhere. County officials are hoping Project 50 can help change that.
L.A. County might get new homeless program
Supervisors expected to approve Project 50, which aims to get skid row's most vulnerable people into supportive housing.
Los Angeles County supervisors are poised to approve a program that will identify the 50 most vulnerable homeless people on downtown's skid row and move them within 100 days into apartments with readily accessible support services.
The program, patterned after projects underway in New York City and elsewhere, is not only aimed at saving the lives of those most likely to die on the streets, but also is expected to save taxpayers the millions of dollars typically spent on people who cycle in and out of shelters, jails and emergency rooms. FOR THE RECORD: Homeless: An article in Monday's California section about a Los Angeles County proposal for helping 50 of the most vulnerable homeless people on downtown's skid row misquoted Philip Mangano of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness. He was quoted as saying the chronically homeless are "fragile in terms of both fiscal and psychological health." He actually said "physical," not "fiscal." —
FOR THE RECORD: Homeless program: An article in the Nov. 19 California section stated incorrectly that the homeless advocacy organization Common Ground provides traditional shelter-type housing for homeless people. The organization provides mainly permanent housing with social services, as well as long-term transitional housing. —
"A lot of these folks fall through the cracks when they go through the shelters," said Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, a major proponent of the project. "If we can't make this work, then we've got a problem." On Tuesday, the board will probably approve two contracts with homeless advocacy groups to provide training and housing for the program. Four of the five supervisors have indicated they support the program. The county has struggled to address the vast homelessness problem. A year ago, supervisors approved an unprecedented $100-million homeless initiative, anchored by five regional assistance centers. But the program faltered after communities balked at the prospect of homeless people coming to their neighborhoods. The county quietly switched gears, deciding instead to fund private organizations and smaller efforts, such as a housing program for families on skid row. The county's slow progress has fueled skepticism from some. Many of the details of Project 50 -- including cost, staffing and location -- have yet to be worked out. The board is expected to ask Tuesday for a more detailed plan within 30 days. About one-third of the county's roughly 70,000 homeless people are classified as chronically homeless -- meaning they have lived on the streets for a year or more and have disabilities such as AIDS or mental illness. Many experts say placing the chronically homeless in permanent housing with social services nearby is more effective than providing them with temporary shelter and more effective than requiring them to get sober before finding them housing. The numbers back up that position: 85% of homeless people living in supportive housing stay off the streets, said Gary Blasi, a UCLA law professor who has studied homelessness. Chronically homeless people are "fragile in terms of both fiscal and psychological health," said Philip Mangano, executive director of the U.S. Interagency Council on Homelessness, which has endorsed such "housing first" programs. "Delivering the treatment and other services that they need is more effectively done when a person is in a stable location," Mangano said. New York City-based Common Ground, which is slated to get one of the two county contracts, housed many of the homeless people living in Times Square and helped launch similar efforts elsewhere. The agency's staff will train local teams to survey skid row residents. Outreach workers will take a visual inventory of the area over a two-week period to observe who sleeps there regularly. Officials will follow up in person, talking to as many people as possible to learn about their health, time spent on the streets and other factors to determine how vulnerable they are. The so-called vulnerability index will determine those most at risk of dying on skid row, and outreach workers will talk with them about moving voluntarily into supportive housing provided by the Skid Row Housing Trust, which is expected to be awarded the second contract Tuesday. The organization helps refurbish and provide housing to the homeless and other needy people. The 50 people identified will have caseworkers to help them and nearby support services, such as mental health and substance abuse counselors. The Department of Veterans Affairs of Greater Los Angeles will work with the street teams to identify veterans, who represent 12% of the county's homeless population. Common Ground has long worked to develop traditional shelter-type housing for homeless people in New York and elsewhere. The agency claims its Times Square project, similar to the program proposed in Los Angeles, helped house about 90% of the people living on the streets in that part of Manhattan. It also is bringing its "street to home" approach to areas of Brooklyn and Queens. The costs of shelter, emergency room care and incarceration can range from $40,000 to $150,000 per homeless person per year, said Blasi, the UCLA professor. Supportive housing for one individual costs between $14,000 and $25,000, he added. County officials acknowledge criticism that the program targets a small group in a large population of needy people, but they hope to eventually expand it across skid row and elsewhere. Some advocates agree with the county and say starting slow is the way to go. Rebecca Isaacs, executive director of the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, said "the idea is to pick something . . . that is manageable" and can become a model for a larger effort. But some question the county's ability to pull off this new project and wonder whether it eventually will include enough people to make a difference in what is widely acknowledged to be the nation's largest homeless population. "It's a step in the right direction, but, in my opinion, it's too small of a step," said Orlando Ward, public affairs director for skid row's Midnight Mission. "Let's get this elephant moving." Ward said local officials tend to "just build permanent supportive housing and hope somebody lands in it. "L.A. has never been that sophisticated in their approach," he said. Former software developer Brian Tierney should know. When Tierney, 48, lost his job, he said he drifted from the sidewalks of Long Beach to L.A.'s skid row, living outside "like an animal" for several years before chance and some kind strangers helped guide him to a small, clean, subsidized apartment at the St. George Hotel downtown. But he thinks Project 50 could be a hard sell to the people who need it most. After a recent police crackdown cleared some of skid row's streets, "the people that are left out there are really hard-core street people," Tierney said. "Those people have been out there so long, they would be really uncomfortable inside." Reaching that population requires a gentle, skillful approach, said Tierney, who lives in an 86-unit building with support services similar to those envisioned in Project 50. The St. George offers a medical examination room in the basement, as well as caseworkers, a psychiatrist, a doctor and a nurse. The program is funded largely by federal and other grants. L.A. City Councilwoman Jan Perry, whose district includes parts of skid row, said she hopes Project 50 can build on existing programs run by local agencies. And she'd prefer to see people already in emergency shelter beds given the first chance at more permanent supportive housing. "They've already made a proactive choice to come in off the street into a bed," said Perry. "Their chances of recovery are already enhanced." Los Angeles has long lagged behind other cities in offering modern homeless services, traditionally emphasizing shelter beds clustered on skid row rather than stable housing with support services, according to advocates elsewhere. County officials are hoping Project 50 can help change that.
