Pubdate: Tue, 10 Apr 2007
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2007 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/front/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: Cara Mia DiMassa and Jack Leonard, Times Staff Writers

L.A. COUNTY PLAN FOR HOMELESS TAKING SHAPE

South L.A., Pomona and a 'gateway' city are identified as possible 
sites for centers as part of a $100-million plan.

Los Angeles County's much-touted effort to shift homeless services 
from downtown Los Angeles to other areas is beginning to take shape, 
with county leaders zeroing in on three communities where homeless 
centers could be built.

A year ago, the Board of Supervisors approved an ambitious 
$100-million homeless plan, the centerpiece of which was a proposal 
to build five "regional centers" in the county.

The plan was part of a campaign to improve conditions on skid row by 
reducing the concentration of facilities that provide shelter and 
health services to transients. The proposal raised concerns in some 
suburbs, where residents said they worried that such facilities would 
bring crime and blight.

Although no specific sites have been selected, county officials said 
this week that South Los Angeles and the cluster of "gateway cities" 
south of downtown have all expressed interest in hosting facilities. 
County officials said they were talking to officials in Pomona about 
placing a center there.

The communities could still face protests, but officials said it made 
sense for them to step up. All three have struggled with homeless 
issues, and cooperating with the county would provide funds to deal 
with transients.

In a sense, the locations represent low-hanging fruit for the county 
in its quest to place homeless services throughout the region. 
Pomona, South Los Angeles and the gateway cities are all working-class areas.

And it remains to be seen whether the county will ever find a site in 
a more middle-class or upscale neighborhood, where some of the 
initial complaints about the plan were the loudest.

The county's plan originally called for a pilot program to be running 
within six months. But a year later, county officials realize that 
for the concept to work, "we were going to have to customize what 
would work, not just transplant our concept," said Lari Sheehan, who 
has been heading the homeless stabilization plan for the county's 
chief administrative office.

The original plan had called for the centers to be open 24 hours a 
day, seven days a week and include rehab centers and other support services.

But Sheehan said that officials were trying to work with cities that 
had expressed an interest in taking on the homeless centers, 
tailoring the setup of individual sites to cater to the needs of the 
communities.

"We are going to work with them to get us to our goal, in a way that 
makes sense for their communities," Sheehan said.

Richard Powers, executive director of the Gateway Cities Council of 
Governments, which represents 27 cities in the county's southeast 
area, said his organization agreed to put the pilot center in one of 
its cities.

Last week, county Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen told the 
gateway cities council that it could have $1.2 million in ongoing 
funds for one or more centers. Powers said that a center would 
complement homeless centers now in Bell and Long Beach, and would 
probably be situated between the two cities.

"In some cases, the issues do transcend cities," Powers said. 
Homelessness, he said, "really is a regional issue for us."

The South L.A. facility would be in an industrial area near Slauson 
Avenue and San Pedro Street, said Councilwoman Jan Perry, who 
represents the area.

Perry, who has been leading the effort to clean up skid row and 
decentralize services, said the location would help serve many of the 
area's homeless. But, she said, it would leave some service gaps, 
including Compton and several unincorporated sections.

The talks over a Pomona facility also are in the early stage, though 
local homeless officials say the eastern San Gabriel Valley 
desperately needs more services.

Gilbert Saldate, a Pomona-based homeless advocate and board member of 
the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness, said too 
few cities in the San Gabriel Valley were willing to embrace homeless 
services, despite a growing need.

"I think when you look at the San Gabriel Valley area, there's tons 
of NIMBYism," he said. "Because it's broken into small cities, 
there's always been problems with those cities and the constituents 
of those cities saying, 'We don't want those programs here.' "

Saldate cited figures from the most recent homeless count that put 
the number of people without homes in the San Gabriel Valley at 
nearly 25,000 each year. About 94% of those do not live in shelters. 
Saldate suggested that the county bypass opposition from cities by 
finding a suitable site in unincorporated areas.

"That's property that they control," he said.

Three private homeless service centers that have tried to open 
outside of downtown, including proposals for Venice and Hollywood, 
have faced strong opposition in recent months. The Union Rescue 
Mission's two-year effort to get women and children off skid row by 
building a homeless shelter in a remote area on the edge of the 
Angeles National Forest also is in limbo after residents in nearby 
Sunland protested.

Though officials said they were beginning to make progress on the 
stabilization centers, they acknowledged that they have had a slower 
time launching the bulk of their $100-million plan.

So far, the county has spent $32 million, according to a county 
report that was issued last week. A project to subsidize rents for 
homeless families to help them move out of temporary facilities, 
which was started last December, has received no applications, the report said

But officials said they were beginning to make headway. In Santa 
Monica, a special court for the homeless was launched in February, 
and an initiative to help get children off skid row has reached more 
than 100 families since January.

In the next few weeks, the county will ask homeless service providers 
to submit bids to spend much of the rest of the money, including $52 
million for a homeless and housing program fund.

"I know that there's a great deal of frustration at the board level, 
and with others, that we haven't been able to move this faster," 
Sheehan said. "We're trying to be as expeditious but as thoughtful as 
we can, so we are minimizing the mistakes we might make."

Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Los Angeles Coalition to 
End Hunger and Homelessness, said some nonprofit homeless providers 
were grumbling that the county had taken too long to issue bids on 
the rest of the proposed initiative.

In addition, he said, other projects have been decided without 
seeking bids as county officials had tapped individual nonprofits 
that they believed were uniquely situated to help.

"There's a fair amount of uncomfortable-ness at the lack of what 
seemed to be an open process," Erlenbusch said.

Adlai Wertman, chief executive of Chrysalis, a nonprofit organization 
that helps the homeless find jobs and has sites in downtown, Santa 
Monica and Pacoima, said he was not surprised by how long the county 
was taking to spend its money. But, he said, the time lag was barely 
a concern given how little ultimately gets spent.

"It's not surprising," he said. "It's government. It takes them a 
year to spend the money -- who cares? I'm really happy that they're 
making an effort and became aware of this problem, but unfortunately 
it's really a drop in the bucket."

So far, he said, too much effort has been spent on arresting the 
homeless and not enough on finding them places to live.

"What we've done is we've tried to sweep the problem away again, but 
we haven't come anywhere near ending this problem or taking people 
off of homelessness," he said.

But Tanya Tull, president and chief executive of Beyond Shelter, 
which is running the skid row families project for the county as part 
of the plan, praised the county's efforts.

"My impression is that I have never seen the county at the table on 
this issue in this way.... I think people need to realize that we are 
dealing with a disaster of tsunami proportions in regards to 
homelessness in Los Angeles," she said.
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MAP posted-by: Beth Wehrman