Homelessness in Los Angeles: This Is a Crisis

L.A.’s homelessness crisis just keeps getting worse.

And this week a collection of local mayors got together to plead for even more money for efforts to solve it, even though steps taken so far have proven to be insufficient.

A February 2018 report by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, shows how much the city is struggling with housing resources. Officials underestimated the amount of beds/units needed for homeless youth, adults, families, and veterans when they asked voters to approve tax measures. A Times analysis of the report found a $73-million annual shortfall in funding for the county’s comprehensive homelessness program — which could more than triple.

Los Angeles city residents voted to pass Proposition HHH in 2016 to address the housing shortfall, and L.A. county voters approved Measure H last year to help provide more services for the homeless.

City politicians are facing mounting pressure to get the problems fixed.

To get more people off the streets, authorities are working on possibilities that would house the homelessness faster, including a measure that would make it easier to temporarily convert motels into housing for the homeless and another measure that would allow permanent supportive housing projects to avoid a possibly long review process.

Meanwhile, the city has almost 6,000 requests pending for it’s Clean Streets Los Angeles program, made by residents asking for help to clean encampments all over the city, and the Bureau of Sanitation wants $17 million to do it, the Times reports.

At a greater level, on Wednesday the L.A. Times reported that the 11 mayors of California’s largest cities are pushing for $1.5 billion in state money to go towards homelessness.

California mayors are now pushing for local governments to match state dollars through Assembly Bill 3171. The result of the bill would bring $3 billion to fund homeless shelters, permanent housing and more.

But will it work?