By Kevin Herrera
Daily Press Staff Writer

SANTA MONICA — A multi-jurisdictional task force working to end homelessness in Los Angeles County by 2013 is a little more than a month away from revealing its action plan, which has been more than two years in the making.

Bring LA Home, which is comprised of elected officials from more than 80 cities, as well as county supervisors, members of the business community, clergy and social service providers, is expected to unveil the plan sometime in early March, said Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, which is coordinating the creation of the action plan.

The initial draft of the plan should be ready for a vote by Bring LA Home’s executive committee by Feb 9., and if approved would then go before the blue-ribbon panel for consideration. There is hope that the final plan will be published and released to the public by March 10.

There have been questions as to whether Bring LA Home could represent a coordinated effort, considering the vast number of parties involved, as well as a 2004-2005 mayoral campaign in the city of Los Angeles that seemed to put things on hold. Some members of the task force’s blue-ribbon panel have criticized its slow pace at times. These critics include advocate Ted Hayes of the Dome Village homeless center near Downtown Los Angeles.

Referring to the group’s name, Hayes said, “They have been doing absolutely nothing. That’s what the acronym says, blah, blah, blah, as in nothing getting done. It seems to me that BLAH is dead in the water.”

According to the organization’s Web site, the blue-ribbon panel has not met since March of last year.

However, Santa Monica City Councilman Richard Bloom, a blue-ribbon member, said executive committees studying specific topics have been meeting at least once a week this month in anticipation of the action plan’s release. He said that although on the outside it may not look as if much is taking place, behind the scenes there is a lot of activity, with staff putting the finishing touches on the 10-year plan, as well as stakeholders offering their opinions on what should stay and what should be removed.

“In a perfect world, I would hope we were further along,” said Bloom, who is heading to New York City today to study the city’s homeless plan. “But this is not a perfect world, so my entire focus at this time is to concentrate on the plan so that it is released on its current schedule. That said, I’m pleased with where we are right now, and I look forward to the eventual plan’s release in the near future.”

On average, 84,000 people in Los Angeles County are homeless on any given night, with more than 236,000 homeless at some point during the course of a single year.

To reduce these numbers, the plan will focus on three areas:

n Chronic homeless: The federal definition of this sub-population is that it consists of single adults over the age of 18 who have been homeless for more than one year, with either substance use issues and/or mental health issues. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) has taken the lead in developing this facet of the plan.

n Homeless families: LAHSA has taken the lead in developing this plan, co-chaired by LA County Department of Social Services and Beyond Shelter.

n Homeless prevention and systems integration: This work group has three subcommittees — income and employment, services and housing.

Bloom said Santa Monica residents should pay close attention to the action plan when it is revealed because it will most likely call for a regional approach to ending homelessness and ask cities like Santa Monica, which has been at the forefront of the issue, to lend a greater hand in implementation and execution of the plan.

“A rising tide will carry all boats,” he said. “It is very clear to me, and I think it is becoming increasingly clear to everyone in the region as well, as we see more and more leaders begin to focus on homelessness and the great tragedy that it presents to our community, the only way we can solve this problem is if we are working together.”