The Antelope Valley Times

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L.A. County approves $402M to fight homelessness, seeks community support

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LOS ANGELES – The Measure H sales tax increase has provided enough money to move homeless people off the streets and get them the services they need, but community support needs to be part of the solution, county officials said.

The five members of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors offered an update Tuesday on Measure H spending.

“Measure H is funding everything you need to move someone into housing and all it takes to make sure someone stays housed,” Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said.

The county moved 10,330 people into crisis, bridge and interim housing with Measure H dollars from July 2017 to March 2018, according to board documents. More than 5,200 homeless families and individuals have found permanent housing during the same time period.

Roughly 80 percent of the total dollars raised have been spent. Phil Ansell, who leads the county’s Homeless Initiative, called it an “extraordinarily fast roll-out” when compared with other new initiatives.

Despite some early problems with slow payments and understaffing at the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority, Ansell said the pace of spending puts the county on track to meet its goal of moving 45,000 homeless families and individuals into permanent housing during the first five years of Measure H funding.

County officials have learned some important lessons as they’ve rolled out a host of new strategies, including that multi-disciplinary outreach teams working to encourage homeless individuals to access services cannot be effective if they operate during normal business hours. That finding led the board to fund new teams that will work nights and weekends.

But one big obstacle remains. Planned developments have encountered vocal opposition from community members.

Ridley-Thomas said it’s no surprise that new housing developments encounter opposition, as virtually all land-use projects, even supermarkets in under-served neighborhoods, get pushback.

The aim is to educate residents and persuade them that affordable housing amounts to an investment of millions of dollars in their community and is not something to be feared.

“There can be no conscientious objectors in the battle against homelessness,” Ridley-Thomas said, a twist on the United Way of Greater Los Angeles’ “Everyone In” campaign.

Supervisor Janice Hahn agreed.

“Each one of us here has experienced NIMBY-ism in our communities and our neighborhoods. The idea was we hope you solve this problem, but we hope you solve it not in our backyard,” Hahn said. “`Everyone In’ is a campaign to lift up YIMBY-ism, which is `Yes, in my backyard.”‘

 

The board approved $402 million in Measure H spending for fiscal year 2018-19, which reflects public input and includes:

— $120 million for shelters and interim housing, including the addition of 3,250 beds;

— $73 million for rapid re-housing, including rent and move-in subsidies and landlord incentives;

— $49 million for permanent supportive housing;

— $30 million for outreach; and

— $17 million for prevention.

Meanwhile, the board is awaiting the results of LAHSA’s point-in-time homeless count, expected to be released at the end of this month, to see whether the number of people living in the street is up or down and, if up, whether the pace of increase has slowed.

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Filed Under: Palmdale

19 comments for "L.A. County approves $402M to fight homelessness, seeks community support"

  1. All that is homeless should be helped with housing mental health medical etc. Not all are drug addicts or alcoholics. There are those that are and then there are those who got that way by becoming homeless.. They are homeless and human. We are in the United States of America each community should be helping to resolve the homeless problem. Why is it that we are taking care of others from other countries or sending them money and so forth and not helping our own. This is very sad. And it’s bit only that our veterans come home from war and some wind up homeless we have seniors that can’t make it the whole month with the money they get there are families that both parents have to work to raise there children. I could say more. Lancaster needs to help homeless elderly families. God bless all of you near and far. And God Bless America

  2. that’s right girl I SAW IT U BET … AND KNW EXACTLY WHO U ARE SPEAKING OF … FROM EXPIERIENCE MY FRIEND. WE NEED TO MEET AND SPEAK ASAP, LOL. THIS TYPE OF PARASITE DESERVES WHAT HES GONNA GET HIM AND HIS CO DEPENDENT WIFE. ILL EMAIL YOU MY ADDY INFO . TY FOR PUTTING THIS OUT THERE FOR PEOPLE LIKE U AND I . IM SURE THERE ARE MORE VICTIMS OUT THERE SUM WHERES STEP UP PLEASE . ITS BEST WE FORM A CLASS ACT. LAWSUIT U ARE NOT ALONE LADIES AND GENTLEMEN SPEAK OUT ROGER AND PENNY S. U KNW WHO AND WHAT U ARE!!!

  3. well, I and my sons are once again homeless and living in tents for a month now after 2years nearly , and speaking of cowards My piece of [removed] slum lord of a Landlord by the name of ROGER L. SCHAEFER (+ wife: PENNY ) wrongfully evicted us on (April 23rd 2018) without any legal paperwork filed by any court without any warnig and all we owed was $147.00 !! Furthermore my sons is a member of MHA in Lancaster and the program hes on paid half the rent already that month.. ?? they accepted partial payment from organization and still came and same day after verbal warning that morning he came back and kicked our door in and literally physically Removed all of our furniture , personal belongings and even our dog and copos came out and knowing it was illegal what he had done sided with this maggot. just needed to ALERT mayor PARRIS he claims u guys are BFF and how he knws all the city council members and hire ups BS and apparently SUM CROOKED COPS too, lol. Im sorry I apologize for venting but I hope someone who may knw these people who live off Firenze St in Quartz Hill will get sum info on this slum scum lord whos also a bi sexual PERV/ ” PEEPING TOM” ACCORDING TO MY NEIGGHBORS AND HIS WIFE PENNY SCHAEFER – just for the publics knowledge and the communitys FYI too. And P.S. Any lawyers willing to try my case (per Bono) to help me beat this bullys [removed] in a court room for sexual harassment in housing, and throwing my family and a single mother out into the street by violent threats and knowing my son is a mental health case as well and for the fact we were wrongfully evicted and TAKING ADVANTAGE OF THE FACT WE HAVE NO MONEY FOR ATTORNEY COURT FEES UNLIKE HIM LIVING IN A MANSION IN A PRIVATE ESTATE COMMUNITY TO FIGHT HIM PLEASSSE CONTACT ME!!! I PLEAD AND ASSURE YOU WE HAVE A STRONG CASE AND WILL WIN. I HAVE PROOF OF THIS AND PLENTY OF WITNESSES WHO WILL TESTIFY AND PHOTOS OF SLUM LORD CONDITIONS OF THE PROPERTY HE OWNS OFF G-4 AND DIVISION ST. CALL ME .

    • This is why you don’t rent to people. What a nightmare! Better to put the home on the market and let a young up-and-coming family have a chance at home ownership than to deal with people who give constant excuses as to why they don’t want to take responsibility in life. I feel really sorry for the kids in this scenario and hopefully they learn from watching their mother. And I sincerely hope that, one day, this mother can get some mentoring on what it means to be an educated and responsible parent.

      • what and why is the beef and blame on the mother S. SOLIZ ? ? Lol. And have you ever been out to the private dirt road at wheres shes speaking of … obviously Not, its a big house and another house a couple 100ft apart surrouinded by trash and dumped furniture, rags, old piles of tires,etc the furthest house in which im almost positive she (Ms. Melton) is refering to – that she got wrongfully evicted from is split in two units seperated by a wooden fence and is a ridiculous set up made into 2 duplexes FYI. BELIEVE ME,No up and coming young couple would even want or think of renting no less opt to buy it . GET THE FACTS STRAIGHT BEFORE U SPEAK AND JUDGE. SHE AND HER KIDS ARE THE VICTIMS HERE .U MUST BE ONE OF THIS DUDE S BUDDYS HAVE SOME SYMPATHY . SOME FAMILIES DONT HAVED MOM AND DAD IN THE HOME .REALITY IS TOO MANY COME FROM BROKEN HOMES GROWING UP AND CAN ONLY TRY TO DO THIER BEST TO PROVIDE AND KEEP A ROOF OVER THIWE KIDS HEADS AND FOOD ON TABLE .IT SOUNDS LIKE THIS SINGLE MOM WAS BARELY GETTING BY THIS WAY UNTIL THIS DIRTBAG TOOK ADVANTAGE OF HER AND BOOTED THEM TO THE STREET EDUCATE YOURSELF ON LIFE IN THE REAL WORLD STEP DOWN FROM THE PEDESTAL AND GOD FORBID UR KIDS KIDS END UP IN THE SITUATION SOME DAY .

        • If you can’t handle living in a home and paying rent there, then maybe try an apartment? or go to the projects at Nickerson Gardens?

    • Wow, their costumes are amazing then!
      Roll by Ave K North on ramp and I see white, black, and too dirty to determine.

    • The taxpayers voted for that. What we didn’t vote for in Lancaster is the $10 Million Dollar boondoggle known as the Eye in the Sky. It is worthless and nothing more than a political payoff.

  7. O.K., let’s try this again with moderation committee. The money will go to the same homeless organizations that let homelessness get out of hand in the first place. Homeless organizations and charities have plenty of money, but they don’t spend it well. Then you have the greed factor when there are some minds that are inclined to deception. Money that just disappears and no one knows where it went. There are excellent programs in this country regarding the homeless, but L.A. County isn’t one of them.

  8. The money will go to the same homeless organizations that let homelessness get out of hand in the first place. Homeless organizations and charities have plenty of money, but they don’t spend it well. Also, money just mysteriously disappears, and no one can account for the missing money. Greed is always a factor in the minds of those so inclined to be deceptive. There are successful programs in this country to help the homeless, but L.A. County isn’t one of them.

  9. That is interesting they say the are helping the homeless. We have a business on Trevor Ave north of Ave I. The homeless encampment behind our building continues to grow. Over 20 tents now, fire pits , dedicating, and trash. No one cares Fire Department (open fires) County Health, City Of Lancaster. We pay taxes and my employees are afraid when they show up at work early in the morning in the dark not knowing who is hanging around stoned out of their mind

    • Our community will be the last to be offered the help AND, a lot of homeless don’t want help. Our leaders in Lancaster have no clue what fears are involved when employees have to be subjected to what you mentioned.

      • Our community is always last on the county’s list, because after our representative on the board of supervisors casts her “I need to look good in the dark and smoky rooms where Republican donors gather so I oppose everything” vote she is invited to go wait elsewhere while the decisions are made. The only mystery is why our district insists on sending these useless tokens as our representatives to every level of government no matter how long they do nothing for us.