LAT Adds Their Ideas To The Numerous Homeless Solutions Floating Around L.A. County

In today’s Los Angeles Times editorial page, the editorial board used their whole editorial space to propose solutions for L.A. County’s homeless problem. Like the numerous political leaders that have proposed solutions to homelessness, the LAT are also doing their part.

Here is their list of solutions:

Build more low-income and homeless housing. California's real estate boom has been harshest on those at the bottom rungs of the economic ladder. Like a cruel game of musical chairs, those who could barely make the rent a few years ago can now no longer afford decent housing. Since the federal government began scaling back its low-income housing programs two decades ago, Los Angeles hasn't picked up the slack. That has left Los Angeles with a bigger affordable-housing gap than almost any major city in the United States.

Reform the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. In 1993, the city and county created the agency to oversee their local homeless contracts. It has been an unqualified failure. Financial problems have been so bad that it has scrambled to meet bills and payrolls. And the agency has never adequately explained how it has spent hundreds of millions of dollars or sufficiently evaluated the programs that get money. The agency's 10-member board has no real power: One member is selected by each county supervisor; the other five by the mayor. The setup allows both city and county officials to hide from accountability.

Encourage regional solutions. In the 1970s and '80s, a deliberate policy of "containment" was popular in such cities as Los Angeles, Long Beach and Santa Monica; the idea was to create and maintain low-income housing and services in one area. But that approach has left too many concentrated problems, overloading service providers and local residents. It needn't be this way. Each of the county's 88 cities gets state and federal community development money that must be spent on the homeless and low-income housing. A review last year by Shelter Partnership Inc., a nonprofit homeless agency, found that 61 cities have failed to zone emergency homeless shelters as required by law. The California Department of Housing and Community Development could investigate, but it doesn't have enforcement powers..

Set up community courts. Many of the homeless end up in court on drug charges or quality-of-life crimes — such as panhandling — every year, but there is no coordinated effort to link services and reduce recidivism. New York and Washington, D.C., have a better idea: They have specific courts in blighted areas that allow police, prosecutors, social workers and public defenders to help the homeless and mentally ill get off the streets. Research shows that this approach is both cheaper and more successful.

Enforce the law. Los Angeles Police Department Chief William J. Bratton is trying to crack down on parole violators and enforce laws against public urination and sleeping on sidewalks. But in 2003, the American Civil Liberties Union tried to block police from arresting people for sleeping on the sidewalk. This is shortsighted. As New York and other cities have shown, "broken windows" policing is sensible and ultimately more humane than the status quo. The ACLU's position on this issue is counterproductive.

Use Proposition 63 funds wisely. Thanks to a ballot initiative two years ago that imposed a 1% levy on taxable incomes over $1 million to pay for mental health services, Los Angeles is set to collect as much as $200 million a year. Ultimately, however, the initiative's success will depend on what local bureaucracies, including the L.A. County Department of Mental Health, do with that money. Homeless people must get their fair share. That will require thorough state and local oversight and diligent evaluations of programs that get funds.