Supervisors act on homeless plight
LOS ANGELES COUNTY — County officials will spend millions of more dollars to fight homelessness, which they say will help address the problem in Santa Monica and other westside cities.
The Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors last week approved an additional $24.6 million to aid in homeless efforts, part of which local officials hope will go toward the creation of a new, year-round homeless shelter on the westside.
In addition, the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, the group which helps oversee homeless services throughout the county, will be re-structured so it has broader powers to help the homeless population.
“The purpose of the board’s action is to take homeless shelter delivery to a new level,” said Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who along with Supervisor Gloria Molina, successfully pushed for the extra funds. “These are human beings who have aspirations, and problems.
“We want to make a dent on this issue.”
Julie Rusk, manager of City Hall’s human services division, which oversees local homeless efforts, said the county allocation is a step in the right direction in helping the down-and-out.
“It is a major infusion of energy and resources to move things forward,” Rusk said. “The supervisors are bringing leadership on a regional basis to fight this problem.”
Rusk said she hopes $20 million of the allocation — which the supervisors have set aside for new homeless facilities and the maintenance of two existing sites — will go toward the creation of a new year-round shelter on the westside.
County representatives confirmed a westside shelter has been on the table for years, but said it’s too early to say which projects the new money will support. Yaroslavsky, however, said Santa Monica will be on his mind when the board decides in 60 days how exactly the funding should be spent.
“This has to be based on where we can make the most impact in the homeless population with these dollars,” Yaroslavsky said. “There is clearly a need in Santa Monica and West Los Angeles, and we will be working closely to identify where we can provide a shelter in that part of the county.”
Rusk said the city of Santa Monica has its own shelter, called Samoshel. She added that a westside facility has been difficult to secure in the past because community groups have resisted the placement of shelters near their neighborhoods. Earlier this year, the establishment of a regional sobering center for the homeless failed to materialize in West Los Angeles because of neighbors who opposed the proposed site being too close to their homes.
County officials will seek assistance from a non-profit research group, called the Shelter Partnership, to facilitate the placing of the shelters.
The county allocation comes the same week the Santa Monica City Council added an additional $370,000 to the city budget to fight homelessness. A significant portion of that money will go toward hiring a regional secretary to coordinate planning efforts among government agencies and service providers.
Councilman Bobby Shriver, who won his election in part due to his promise to better tackle the homeless problem in Santa Monica, said he is glad the county will be providing more shelters, but insists City Hall can’t wait for outside entities to lead in service efforts.
“I’m thrilled to see they are following Santa Monica’s lead and thinking of changing LAHSA’s authority,” Shriver said. “We’re still looking for our person and not waiting for anybody.
“I think the council leadership on this issue has people’s attention.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on June 28, 2005. Read the original PDF.