Health Crisis Among The Homeless in Los Angeles

We received this alert from the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. It appears there is a Hepatitis A outbreak among the homeless—particularly in downtown, Hollywood, and Glendale.

Here is the alert:

*********IMPORTANT PUBLIC HEALTH NOTICE**********

To social service providers in Los Angeles County

The Acute Communicable Disease Control (ACDC) Program of the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services has noticed a recent increase in the number of reported cases of acute hepatitis A in Los Angeles County.

Many of these cases are among homeless persons in the downtown area.

Since September, there has been an increase in reported hepatitis A cases in the Central, Northeast, Hollywood-Wilshire, Glendale, and Southwest Public Health Districts. In Central District, most of the cases have occurred in the homeless population; furthermore, a cluster of 3 cases with connection to one specific mission/soup kitchen was identified in early October.

At this time we do not know the source(s) of the increase in acute hepatitis A. Nationwide, community outbreaks of acute hepatitis A have been associated with drugs (primarily methamphetamine, the use of which is increasing in California), but it is possible that there is person-to-person transmission at homeless shelters.

Acute hepatitis A is spread by fecal contamination and therefore shelters should take particular care in ensuring clean bathroom facilities so people have a lessened exposure to feces. Whenever possible, additional handwashing facilities and resources should be provided and encouraged. Shelter operators and staff should refer any person who reports having fatigue, lethargy, muscle aches, fever, diarrhea, abdominal pain, and jaundice to healthcare providers to be evaluated for hepatitis A.

There is also a concern for disease transmission through food preparation. No one should work with food if they have any gastrointestinal symptoms, including diarrhea, nausea, abdominal pain, and jaundice, along with fatigue, lethargy, muscle aches, or fever.

This includes volunteers, members of the homeless population, or other food preparation staff. Such personnel should be referred to a healthcare provider for evaluation before returning to work.

For consultation or questions, please call Jane Maynard, RN, at ACDC
(213-2404-7941) or contact your local health district via the Health Information Hotline 800-427-8700.

For more information on acute hepatitis A, please refer to the following website:
Hepatitus A Link.

Thank you for your attention and partnership.

Connecting the Poor and the Homeless to Technology For Empowerment

I’ve been in San Francisco since yesterday working with the Zero Divide Fellowship (a program of the Community Technology Foundation of California.)

We have put together a “State-wide Community Technology Roadmap.”

Here is a brief description:

This Roadmap is the result of the Policy Group's efforts, it proposes a statewide strategy on information technology access and use to benefit all communities in California, particularly the poorest and most underserved. It documents the critical needs of disadvantaged communities as they relate to technology and suggests policy prescriptions for the next five years.

The ZFellows Policy Group believes that accessible and available technology is a quality of life indicator for community health. The lack of understanding of the power and importance of this indicator is a major barrier to universal access. Thus, increasing awareness could be the major component in increasing technology access to underserved people and underserved communities.

Here is a link to the Roadmap.

It has been presented to political officials in Sacramento.

Sticks and Stones Will Break My Bones, But Names Will Never Hurt Me…

What happens when a Los Angeles City Councilmember, a LAPD Senior Lead Officer (who ran against her in the last election), and a local homeless agency start fighting?

Certainly homeless solutions don’t prevail.

The LA Weekly chronicles the struggle between LA Councilmember Jan Perry, LAPD senior lead officer Peter Torres, and New Image Emergency Shelter (a reputable provider of year-round emergency shelter near downtown L.A.). Here's the article.

The spat is basic… the LAPD officer accuses the homeless agency (and the councilmember who supports the agency) that they are “dumping” homeless people into his neighborhood. The councilmember accuses the officer of misconduct, and the homeless agency accuses him of “bullying” their staff. (LAPD has transferred this officer to another division.)

It’s amazing how much energy our community puts into fighting one another over the problem of homelessness. Whether it’s law enforcement agencies sparring, city entities accusing one another, or local officials arguing… the energy and resources could be better used if directed toward solutions to the problem.

Like how to get more affordable housing, how to create more shelter beds, how to help law enforcement make our streets safer, and how to care for those hurting on the streets.

L.A. Mayor Appoints Four New Commissioners To Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority

The LAHSA Commission consists of ten commissioners—five appointed by the Mayor of Los Angeles, and five appointed by the County of Los Angeles (each of the five Supervisors appoints one).

Mayor Villaraigosa has replaced four of the five city appointed commissioners. They are:

Ramona Ripston, the Executive Director of the ACLU of Southern California. Both the L.A. Times and the Daily News have articles about this appointee today.

Douglas Mirell, an attorney. The Daily News writes, “Another mayoral appointee, Douglas Mirell, was a plaintiff's attorney along with the ACLU in a 2000 case in which a federal judge limited the stopping of homeless people without probable cause by Los Angeles police.”

Rev. Cecil L. “Chip” Murray, the recently retired Senior Pastor of the First AME Church.

Rebecca Avila, a USC administrator and former City Ethics Commissioner.

In my discussions with the Mayor’s office, I am assuming that Hahn-appointed LAHSA commissioner Sarah Dusseault will continue to serve.

Here is what the LA Times and Daily News have to say about these recent picks:

Los Angeles Times

Daily News

Connecting Homeless People To Services

The City of San Francisco has become known for their Project Homeless Connect. This is sponsored by the city’s mayor who brings hundreds of volunteers to the city’s civic center where they help homeless people connect to services. Here is a link about the SF day.

This is a bi-monthly event. The most recent event occurred yesterday and helped over 1,000 homeless people. Two of PATH’s staff were at the San Francisco event because PATH is working with the City and County of Los Angeles to put on our own Connect day, called “Project Y!MBY Day.” The L.A. version will occur in Hollywood on December 8th. Hollywood's "honorary" mayor, Johnny Grant, is the honorary chair of the event.

The L.A. message is that we help connect homeless people into services every day, not just one day every other month.

Stay tuned to hear more about this day…

Live From Skid Row! Its………….

The personal approach to deeply entrenched societal problems—like homelessness—always works. That’s why non-profit agencies use the personal testimony to raise money. That’s why reporters use this angle to win literary awards, and new readers.

Steve Lopez, the LA Times columnist is taking this angle a step further. He is spending a week in Skid Row to write about the personal perspective. From a fire fighter to a drug addict, from a prostitute to a caring doctor… you can’t deny the devastating effects of homelessness on people’s lives. Especially in Skid Row.

Here's the series.

It makes sense to write about this now. After a couple of weeks of accusations about homeless “dumping” tossed around the County of Los Angeles, it just seems right to publish a series on the personal angle. Let the law enforcement agencies and city officials fight among themselves about the terrible problem of homelessness.

But let the average resident of Southern California read about how homelessness affects both the person on the street and the person helping. It’s touching, it’s cruel, it’s sad, it’s frustrating.

And yet, just reading about this personal angle, knowing that those who don’t normally take an interest in homelessness are also reading about it… means it is also hopeful.

Rain, Rain, Go Away…

They say the rain here in Los Angeles will end today.

Although rain is a good thing for the Southland, it is a bad thing for people living on our streets. Yesterday, the PATH Mall was packed full of people needing services. Our program staff said when it rains, the people on the streets pour into PATH.

While driving yesterday, maneuvering through the wet streets, I noticed the people who are homeless packed under covered bus stops, under business porches, and even some covered by tarps lying on the grass in the parks.

We get frustrated over L.A. traffic during the rain—Angelenos just don’t know how to drive wet roads—but the reality is, steering through slow traffic is a much better predicament than sleeping outside in the rain…

New Ideas On Homelessness From Washington (the State)

Homeless encampments in Tacoma, Washington are causing officials to think differently. They are deciding that homeless encampments are a public health crisis, rather than just a homeless problem.

Another idea… give each homeless person an ID card that can be used as a “credit card” for free services. This allows service agencies, who traditionally work independent from one another, to coordinate services and track duplicative contacts.

One final idea… develop a campus facility consisting of every service that a homeless person needs. Sort of like the PATH Mall, but more like a campus with numerous buildings. (They have more land in Tacoma than in Los Angeles.)

Although some ideas are better than others, it’s good that people are seeking creative ideas to solve a decades-old problem.

Here is the link to the article.

World Socialist Web Site Highlights Los Angeles’ Homeless Problem

You know our city has a problem with homelessness when a small website (somewhere out of left field) highlights this human dilemma. Here's the site.

Downtown Los Angeles’ Central City East (also known as “Skid Row”) has been getting press right and left—whether it likes it or not. Starting off with media attention on homeless “dumping,” this small area of Los Angeles has become synonymous with “homeless America.”

The article reads: “Skid Row is a not-so-hidden 50-block area in the shadow of the LA downtown skyline. It has the largest concentration of homeless in the country: between 8,000 and 11,000 people live here under appalling conditions. Recently LAPD Chief William Bratton referred to it in the press as ‘Dante’s Inferno.’”

The big question is… will all of this media attention force community leaders to actually do something about “Dante’s Inferno”? Or will all of this attention just go away, and the problem will persist?

Preparations For Winter Shelter In Los Angeles County: Long Beach Struggles To Find A Shelter Home

Applications for agencies to operate a Winter Shelter Program were due late last month. The Winter Shelter Program is the county’s response to providing emergency shelter beds for homeless people between December 1st to March 15th.

The biggest hurdle for operating such a program… finding a location. NIMBYism (Not In My Backyard) prevents agencies from finding a place to house 50 to 200 homeless people. Neighbors just don’t want to have a large emergency shelter in their neighborhood.

Ironically, people don’t want homelessness in their communities, but they are not willing to host programs that would help people get off the streets.

A Long Beach homeless agency, New Image, is struggling to find a location for Long Beach’s Winter Shelter Program. The struggle in Long Beach reflects the struggle in communities throughout Los Angeles County. Here is the article about Long Beach.

Another issue I have with the Winter Shelter Program… why only house homeless people 3-1/2 months out of the year? We should be providing shelter year round.