Is A Large Donald Sterling Homeless Center Good For Downtown LA?

The Downtown News reports on the latest status of L.A. Clippers Owner Donald Sterling’s plans to build a $50 million homeless center in the heart of Skid Row. Is this a good thing?

Clearly, we need to decentralize homeless services so that they are located throughout the County, not just in downtown Los Angeles. A large homeless center like Sterling’s seems opposite of decentralization. Downtown doesn’t need more homeless services.

However, if created appropriately, this center could actually be beneficial. If it helped coordinate existing homeless services it would be good. If it included much needed permanent supportive housing it would be very good.

I think another role for a new homeless center in downtown could be that it could help interview and assess people who are homeless in downtown, and refer them to their original community—whether they are from other cities in the county, or other cities throughout the country. A sort of reverse Greyhound bus station…

And for those who read the Downtown News article, where I was quoted. PATH had very, very preliminary discussions with Sterling’s people regarding this center. Sterling has also talked to numerous other homeless agencies besides PATH.

More Legal Assaults On Solving Homelessness in L.A.

Looks like a federal judge is ruling that the LAPD is found to be operating unconstitutionally in terms of searches in Skid Row. The federal judge who made the ruling is Judge Dean D. Pregerson. He is the son of the well-known Judge Harry Pregerson.

Judge Pregerson Senior is known for helping to advocate for Century Housing Corporation (an affordable housing lending agency), U.S. Vets (a homeless veterans agency), and Salvation Army. (And is also an advocate for PATH.)

Clearly, the Pregerson’s are on the side of the homeless. That’s a great thing.

However, if we are to solve homelessness in Los Angeles, we need a very balanced approach. Tying the hands of the police department for the sake of giving people on the streets personal freedoms is not the solution.

We need to concentrate on housing those on the streets. If anything, let the ACLU sue the city and the county for not housing the homeless. Not sue LAPD for trying to reduce crime on the streets.

(Pic is of Judge Harry Pregerson)

A Novelists View On Homelessness and Mental Illness

The prolific novelist, Jonathan Kellerman, writes an intriguing article in the Wall Street Journal this week on mental illness called "Bedlam Revisted." It is geared toward the reasons why the Virginia Tech massacre occurred, but it also addresses homelessness.

He blames the “progressives, libertarians and fiscal conservatives” for releasing so many mentally ill patients from mental hospitals in the 1970’s. Many in the homeless service community often blame the “fiscal conservatives” (can you say, “Ronald Reagan”?) for this. But Kellerman, rightfully adds those who felt that mental hospital patients should have the same personal rights as the average person. In other words, no one should force you into a mental hospital unless you are a danger to yourself or others.

However, it’s hard prove that someone is dangerous until AFTER something occurs. (Look at Virginia Tech, as an example.)

So Kellerman writes:

And now we had a Homeless Problem. And everyone was astonished. Estimates vary but there's no doubt that a significant percentage of people living on heating vents, pushing their belongings in shopping carts, squatting in city parks and immersed in the squalor of tent cities suffer from severe mental disease. And their psychosis is often exacerbated by drug and alcohol abuse -- what is, essentially, a regimen of self-medication that should make a Szaszian proud.
__________

No matter who we blame, we now have to deal with the consequences. Homelessness has increased dramatically. And society is fighting over how to deal with a segment of the homeless population that struggles with mental illness. Give them the right to languish on the streets, or institutionalize them?

Right now the solution is to give them an apartment (“Housing First”). For many, that will work. For many others, it will not work. They need much more intensive care that only a mental health facility can provide.
Let’s forget theories, and concentrate on practical solutions.

Beyond Reach? Is The American Dream of Owning A Home An American Nightmare?

The United Way of Greater Los Angeles is promoting a study by the LA County Economic Development Corporation that evaluates the economic forecast and industry outlook for Southern California.

Some interesting facts that affect how people access housing:

* Apartment rents have increased 8.1% in LA County from 2005 to 2006, and by 6.3% in Orange County during the same time period.
* Personal income in LA County is expected to increase by 4.9% in 2007 and by 5.3% the
year after.
* Los Angeles County faces a housing shortfall of 290,000 units.
* In 5 years, the median home price in LA County grew more than $343,000, from $241,370 in 2001, to $584,820 in 2006.

That means that the price of renting an apartment is increasing faster than a person’s income. Rent increased in LA County 8.1%. Income only increased 4.9%.

The media home price jumped from $241,370 to $584,820. That means if you want to buy a home in LA County you need to make about $190,000 per year. (I used the 21st Century Realtor Affordability Calculator.)

It really shows that the American Dream is becoming beyond the reach of most people.


(Pic from www.flavorphoto.com)