By GUEST COMMENTARY BY JEAN SEDILLOS
If John Donne were writing those words in Santa Monica today, of course he would say, “No person is an island...” If he were speaking of Santa Monica’s problems with homelessness, he would say, “No city is an island, entire of itself; every city is a piece of the region, a part of the state.”
My former English professors, if dead, are now turning over in their graves. But Donne’s wisdom from 1623 applies here today: Santa Monica is not an island. We need to operate as part of the mainland — the whole region — if we hope to succeed in helping chronically homeless individuals move off our streets and into permanent housing.
I have been working on Santa Monica homeless issues since 1990. During the early ’90s, hundreds of people were living in Lincoln (now Reed), Memorial and Palisades parks. They had even brought in a few sofas and pieces of carpet. The home furnishings are gone, but otherwise the situation today is the same — even though city-supported homeless programs help hundreds of people find jobs and housing each year.
Santa Monica has been operating as if the city were an island, single-handedly trying to serve all homeless people within our boundaries. But we do not have enough resources to help everyone. Because of untreated mental illness and addictions, many people have been living on our streets, in our parks and in our carports for years.
“No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent, a part of the main.”
Since November, I and several other volunteers have spent a good part of each week working with Councilmember Bobby Shriver, an experience comparable to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride at Disneyland. We have toured and researched many successful homeless service programs and have met with elected officials and staff from neighboring cities, the county, state and federal government; service providers; legal experts; police; hospital administrators; philanthropists; and community members.
What emerged from this crash course were several promising programs. Each requires regional collaboration: ■ A sobering center at a site in Santa Monica or near the Brotman Medical Center in Culver City: Chronic inebriates would be relocated from public places into housing and treatment. Besides requiring cooperation from Culver City if a site near Brotman is found, this program requires help from the county because jail time would be used to discourage repeat offenders. Currently persons sentenced for nonviolent misdemeanors are released within 72 hours, even if the sentence is for 180 days. ■ An alternative charging system: People arrested for crimes such as loitering or public inebriation are given the choice of jail time or housing with services to help them stay off the streets. ■ A mental health/substance abuse court: A Los Angeles County Superior Court judge would have discretion to order some mentally ill individuals into monitored treatment programs instead of jail. ■ A supportive housing facility for chronic homeless individuals on the Westside: It would require the coopera-tion of the city in which it is located. Surrounding cities could contribute resources. County, state and federal funding would be sought. ■ A supportive housing facility for chronically homeless veterans on the VA grounds in West Los Angeles.
Each of these programs is cost-effective, reducing costly police and para-medic calls, as well as emergency room and inpatient treatment, and jail costs.
Who will make these programs happen? A group called Bring LA Home has been meeting, with the goal of ending homelessness in LA County by 2013. Composed of representatives from 84 different constituencies, Bring LA Home is doing useful work in developing consensus and policy. But organizing its members to implement a program would be as easy as herding cats.
Santa Monica has to provide the leadership. We will be helping the whole region — but by far the greatest effect will be seen on Santa Monica streets.
Last month the City Council took the first step by voting to hire a homeless initiative secretary, a top-level manager whose only responsibility will be to reduce chronic homelessness in Santa Monica. This person will be powerful within the city bureaucracy and influential enough in the region and beyond to forge partnerships that will make life better in Santa Monica — for homeless and housed people alike. (Jean Sedillos has lived in Santa Monica for 35 years and has been active in the public schools and on civic issues.)
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on May 9, 2005. Read the original PDF.