{"id":18262,"date":"2019-10-16T00:40:05","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T00:40:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=18262"},"modified":"2019-10-18T12:43:01","modified_gmt":"2019-10-18T12:43:01","slug":"los-angeles-is-far-from-ending-homelessness-but-other-american-cities-can-still-learn-a-lot-from-it","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/los-angeles-is-far-from-ending-homelessness-but-other-american-cities-can-still-learn-a-lot-from-it\/","title":{"rendered":"Los Angeles is far from ending homelessness \u2013 but other American cities can still learn a lot from it"},"content":{"rendered":"

Brenda Wiewel<\/a>, University of Southern California<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Los Angeles became ground zero for America\u2019s homelessness crisis after President Donald Trump visited the city<\/a> on Sept. 17.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe can\u2019t let Los Angeles, San Francisco and numerous other cities destroy themselves by allowing what\u2019s happening,\u201d Trump said<\/a>. They\u2019re ruining the \u201cbest highways, our best streets, our best entrances to buildings.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the Trump administration\u2019s prioritization of highways and buildings over people is far from heartwarming, he does have a point in highlighting LA and its homeless problem \u2013 but not for the reasons he thinks.<\/p>\n

As an expert in homelessness<\/a>, I\u2019ve studied the many ways Los Angeles has tried to deal with homelessness on its streets. While some plans have worked better than others, I believe the city\u2019s efforts are instructive for policymakers across the country who want to tackle their own homeless problems.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Secretary of Housing Ben Carson tours the Union Rescue Mission in Skid Row during Trump\u2019s time in LA.<\/span>
\nAP Photo\/Damian Dovarganes<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Homelessness in LA<\/h2>\n

The United States\u2019 homeless population is concentrated on the West Coast and in the Northeast, with almost half in California<\/a> alone.<\/p>\n

Coastal cities are especially prone to homelessness because there\u2019s not enough affordable housing<\/a> and real estate prices tend to be very high<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rents are increasing<\/a> in LA<\/a> as well. When more than half of a household\u2019s monthly income goes to pay rent, there is not enough left for living expenses<\/a>.<\/p>\n

As a result, homeless encampments have cropped up in every part of the city. An increasing number of unsheltered homeless people<\/a> in the U.S. \u2014 those who are on the streets as opposed to in temporary shelters \u2014 live in LA.<\/p>\n

Rampant homelessness not only hurts those living on the streets \u2013 as seen by rising death rates<\/a> \u2013 but also harms all residents of a community<\/a>, including economically<\/a>.<\/p>\n

What hasn\u2019t worked<\/h2>\n

Many of LA\u2019s efforts to tackle the problem have actually followed Trump\u2019s approach: Treat it as a nuisance and keep it out of sight and away from where people live and work.<\/p>\n

In the early 2000s, LA officials tried an approach known as the Safer Cities Initiative<\/a> with a focus on Skid Row, an area of downtown LA that contains the largest homeless population in the U.S.<\/a> It was supposed to clean up crime and community disorder by promptly targeting minor crimes<\/a>, such as jaywalking or littering.<\/p>\n

Later reports showed that it did not reduce extreme<\/a> poverty or crime<\/a>. It succeeded only in criminalizing homelessness and emphasizing problems of racial inequality<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In 2017 the city banned people from sleeping in their cars<\/a> in residential areas and near schools and parks. And the city council has been debating limits on where people can sleep in the streets, without being able to come to any agreement<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The city has also tried to clear out encampments, which has resulted in homeless advocates filing lawsuits<\/a> over the constitutionality of removing people\u2019s belongings<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
LAPD officers guard a ramp by a displaced homeless camp during Trump\u2019s visit to LA.<\/span>
\nAP Photo\/Damian Dovarganes<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Exploring other options<\/h2>\n

Some of the city\u2019s approaches, however, have focused more on addressing the root causes of homelessness and have the backing of research<\/a>.<\/p>\n

One such initiative<\/a> known as the Coordinated Entry System has brought together the government, nonprofit groups and private citizens to create a database of homeless people that documents their progress in and out of services.<\/p>\n

The initiative also helped match people with available housing resources. It is structured to prioritize the most vulnerable homeless people, such as those with multiple health conditions that may be fatal within a year without intervention.<\/p>\n

From 2017 through 2018, homelessness decreased significantly<\/a> in many areas that used this system.<\/p>\n

Additionally, there has been an effort to inform policy decisions through data analysis<\/a> by partnering with universities<\/a> and to address conditions on the streets by working with encampments to provide shelter tied to permanent housing<\/a>. Through a recent sales tax increase, Los Angeles area communities now have access<\/a> to expanded outreach, housing and other resources.<\/p>\n

As a result, there is capacity to reach more people experiencing homelessness. New regulations provide incentives to encourage developers to build more affordable housing units<\/a>, and the city plans to put multiple housing units on the market<\/a> over the next few years. Units will include homes and apartments.<\/p>\n

The city has also made a commitment to addressing the role of race and structural inequality<\/a>, bringing together the community, scholars and government representatives to investigate why African Americans<\/a> make up 40% of all homeless people<\/a> but only 9% of the total population in LA.<\/p>\n

Although homelessness remains a serious problem in Los Angeles, the city is starting to take steps to address it based on best practices rather than simply removing the problem from sight.<\/p>\n

[ Deep knowledge, daily.<\/em> Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s newsletter<\/a>. ]\"The<\/p>\n

Brenda Wiewel<\/a>, Director of the Initiative to Eliminate Homelessness, University of Southern California<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Brenda Wiewel, University of Southern California Los Angeles became ground zero for America\u2019s homelessness crisis after President Donald Trump visited the city on Sept. 17. \u201cWe can\u2019t let Los Angeles, San Francisco and numerous other cities destroy themselves by allowing what\u2019s happening,\u201d Trump said. They\u2019re ruining the \u201cbest highways, our best streets, our best entrances […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":18261,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[277],"tags":[272,138,7083,265,2689,801,7082,2031,2183,5231,13,803,2438,104],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18262"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=18262"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18262\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":18276,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18262\/revisions\/18276"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18261"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=18262"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=18262"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=18262"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}