U.S. Housing and Urban Development Secretary Marcia Fudge visited Los Angeles on Thursday, June 2, to get a firsthand look at the city’s homelessness crisis and how federal dollars are being used to address it.
“Tackling the homelessness crisis through a Housing First approach is a top priority. At HUD, we are focused on ensuring that people have safe, stable, accessible housing and supportive services. Together we have an opportunity to solve this crisis and help people suffering live with health, hope, and dignity,” Fudge said in a statement ahead of the meeting.
Fudge trekked to L.A. at the request of Rep. Karen Bass, D-Los Angeles, Bass, who is running for mayor in Tuesday’s primary, but hosted the event in her capacity as congresswoman to show Fudge the urgent need for additional housing assistance, according to Bass’ office.
The tour, which included visits to housing facilities that receive federal funding, focused on the need for Section 8 housing vouchers and more low-income and moderate housing units.
Fudge also met with housing and service providers.
Speaking to reporters, Fudge insisted the federal government is working to address the problem in Los Angeles, which she referred to as the “epicenter of homelessness.”
More than 66,433 people were experiencing homelessness across Los Angeles County during the most recent count in January 2020, with 41,290 identified in the city. The 2021 count was canceled due to COVID-19, and the 2022 count took place in February, with results expected over summer.
The homelessness crisis in Los Angeles and across California has taken center stage in many races during the primary election season — particularly in the L.A. mayoral campaign.
Not far from Fudge’s tour, Mayor Eric Garcetti signed an $11.8 billion budget for the 2022-23 fiscal year, with a 6.5% increase to the Los Angeles Police Department — as well as a second year of historic spending of more than $1 billion related to homelessness.
While increasing the police budget, the overall city budget also expanded funding for alternatives to policing, including more than doubling the CIRCLE initiative — which launched last year in Venice and Hollywood and dispatches homeless services teams with Urban Alchemy to nonviolent 911 calls regarding homeless people — from $3 million to $8 million.
The revised budget also includes more than $1 billion in spending the city deemed related to the homelessness crisis, including $377 million for permanent supportive housing, $208 million for the Project Homekey program, $17 million for interim housing and more than $50 million for supportive services.
The budget would also expand the city’s Comprehensive Cleaning and Rapid Engagement (CARE/CARE+) program that cleans at encampments from 22 to 28 teams and double the staff responsible for illegal dumping cleanup and bulky item cleanup.
Earlier this week, city Controller Ron Galperin launched an online platform detailing the extent of the city’s homelessness crisis and how the city’s efforts to address it are progressing.
Galperin’s “Housing and Homelessness Hub” includes a map with data from the city and county’s most recent homeless count in 2020, a map of interim housing solutions and a map of permanent supportive housing developments built through Proposition HHH.
People can also see charts of government spending on the crisis, different years’ homeless count results, mortality for unhoused people, housing progress metrics and the impact that homelessness has on communities of color.
California pledged nearly $8 billion over the next year on projects related to addressing homelessness, while the city of Los Angeles will spend about $1.16 billion.
People who are experiencing homelessness or are at risk of becoming homeless can also find resources for food, rental protection, mental health and addiction treatment, domestic violence assistance and more on the platform.
“While local governments and the state of California are spending billions to address the homelessness crisis, it has remained frustratingly challenging to find accurate information about the problem, track the progress of solutions and provide resources to help people in need,” Galperin said. “My new homelessness and housing hub centralizes data from multiple government entities and agencies in one location, and links users to helpful services. People deserve resources that are easy to use and understand, and that promote greater transparency and accountability.”
The hub can be found at https://bit.ly/3MbllS2.
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