What is missing in a lot of the public conversation regarding homelessness is an accurate perception about who these people are and many of the root causes of homelessness. The most visible faces of homelessness tend to be those suffering from mental health problems and substance abuse, which negatively taints Read more…
I will only address the private sector/public engagement issue here. What I have discovered about the role we played in bringing the state, philanthropy and the non-profit sector together through the One California Program is that given the right framework, big ideas like this could have big impact. One-CA has Read more…
Our joint approach should view homelessness as an emergency, much like a natural disaster. This will involve both short term and long term solutions to provide housing and services to those experiencing homelessness right now. This will fundamentally alter how we approach building new housing of all types that can Read more…
The homelessness problem is more difficult to solve than the housing shortage and affordability problem. It is also more permanent and likely to keep growing for the foreseeable future. Our booming economy cannot stem this tide, nor can a potential glut of affordable housing. Mayor Garcetti’s major efforts of the Read more…
There is a false narrative that all people who find themselves homeless are mentally ill and have addiction issues. When in fact, two-thirds of the population are homeless due to trouble paying rent. I believe if we think differently about local and state budgets I think we could figure a Read more…
What is missing is what I’ve stressed above [in the prior question] – the idea that homelessness and housing affordability are increasingly connected. While mental health, substance abuse, and lack of support for veterans are important drivers, it’s the single parent, the student, the older folks next door, the hard-working Read more…
In addition to increasing efforts to provide mental health support, substance abuse treatment and other social services to those who need it, we need to focus on helping homeless individuals find jobs. Here in San Bernardino County, we are partnering with a nonprofit staffing agency to provide job coaching, placement, Read more…
Hundreds of thousands of L.A. County residents are on the brink of homelessness – one car repair, medical visit, or rent increase away from not being able to pay their rent. In fact, an estimated 600,000 people in L.A. County spend 90% of their income on housing. A recent study Read more…
As a public health and community health-minded leader in philanthropy, I doubt I have any new insights to share on the affordable housing crisis. But the civic conversation on homelessness is missing one key, critical element: our society and our region are manufacturing homeless persons faster than our ability to Read more…
Missing is the conversation of wages and are the wages average workers earn enough to pay for housing. Are there housing assistance grants that can help individuals prevent eviction? Government at all levels need to regulate rental prices and provide clinical and health support for people who are in the Read more…
In discussions on homelessness, the focus is largely on triaging the issue by providing shelter as soon as possible, which is critical and necessary. On that front, nonprofits do a lot of good work in our communities and in general, prove to be more effective with their money and resources. Read more…
It strikes me that there are a couple of aspects of the homelessness problem that need more attention, one demographic and one economic. The demographics of the homeless population are complex, and people become and remain homeless for a variety of reasons, which is why there is no single “silver Read more…
It’s easy when addressing a crisis that is as complex as homelessness to gravitate towards safe and simplistic solutions, when in reality our response must be connected solutions that acknowledge the complexity of the issue. You might hear some say, “this is about mental health”. The truth is homelessness is Read more…
Cities are required to identify sites for homeless shelters by law. Builders must have full “by-right” authority to build, with ministerial approvals only. Homelessness is not a crime. If sufficient housing is not produced, cities will not be permitted to enforce local “no-camping” ordinances and tent cities may develop in Read more…
I believe community members and leaders do not face the collective responsibility of every jurisdiction in providing services to prevent and respond to homelessness. It is an infrastructure requirement like water, sewers, public safety, roads and open space.
One under-reported aspect is the number of homeless young people who are attending college in our region – at community colleges and Cal State campuses, even the UCs. It’s remarkable to imagine how they balance classroom assignments on top of the burdens that come with living without steady housing. Having Read more…
The increase of the homeless populations in cities all across Southern California has become a crisis for taxpayers across the region. Access to public property, sidewalks, parks, trails, public centers is being denied due to legitimate safety and health concerns. This is tantamount to a taking of property from a Read more…
What’s missing is a disaggregation of the “homelessness” problem into distinct categories with unique causes. In the 1960s, California adopted the Lanterman-Petris-Short Act, which provided for the involuntary commitment and treatment of a person who is a danger to himself or herself or others or who is gravely disabled. The Read more…
Government has to play a leading role, but also non-profits. Building affordable units for the homeless needs to be taken outside of normal economic parameters. If we insist market rate developers do this, it will require massive infusions from the taxpayers. There also needs to be creative use of redundant Read more…
As a society we are paying for people to be homeless. We are paying for paramedics to attend to and transport them, we are paying for them to access our healthcare system through frequent high cost emergency room visits and hospital stays, and we are paying for their interactions with Read more…
In addition to a focus on reducing today’s on-the-street homeless, we also need to pay attention to the thousands of families living in overcrowded housing across Southern California. Families living in converted garages, garden sheds, or packed into a single bedroom present public health issues and other challenges for children. Read more…
Society must first admit that chronic homelessness is mostly due to drug/alcohol use. Many substance users are self-medicating due to past trauma, abuse or situation. A smaller portion of the homeless population is there because they do not take prescribed medications that help mitigate their congenital mental health disorders. They Read more…
There is no constitutional right to camp on a street. Police should remove people who do and take them to locations with toilet, shower, heating and cooling features, and soup kitchens. Liberal cities have been hesitant to take this action out of fear of not appearing compassionate. However, letting the Read more…
Employment. California has begun to incorporate planning for livelihood-sustaining jobs into discussions of homelessness, but it is still an afterthought in a “housing first” model. A more explicit set of initiatives are needed to combine jobs (in social enterprise), economic mobility (via education/training (in the workplace or in other settings), Read more…
Vagrancy is evidence of either mental illness, addiction or a refusal to work. If mental illness or addiction, the government must work with nonprofits to treat people; if the latter, incarceration. Public “camping” should be considered theft of public space that deprives others of the right to use that space.