Los Angeles Is Squandering $1.2 Billion While Homeless Face a ‘Spiral of Death’

Federal Judge David O. Carter says Los Angeles' “inaction" is "so egregious, and the state so nonfunctional" that it's likely "in violation of the Equal Protection Clause."

Full text and links here: https://reason.com/video/2021/07/07/los-angeles-wastes-1-2-billion-while-homeless-face-a-spiral-of-death/
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Five years after Los Angeles voters approved a $1.2 billion bond measure and a countywide sales tax hike to raise another estimated $355 million annually to solve its homelessness problem, there are more people living and dying on the streets than ever before.

Many of these men and women are both frequent targets and perpetrators of violence.

Mayor Eric Garcetti (D), who did not respond to our interview request, has partially blamed this failure on the pandemic, which slowed new housing construction and limited shelter capacity. It's true that COVID caused a surge in homelessness, but the city's plan was already failing.

In 2019, homelessness spiked 13 percent in L.A. County.

"This was happening way before the pandemic," says Deisy Suarez, the proprietor of Desuar Day Spa in downtown L.A. "There are tents popping up in places that we didn't see them before. It's just getting worse and worse."

The centerpiece of L.A.'s plan was to spend the $1.2 billion raised through Proposition HHH to build 10,000 supportive housing units over a decade. Even if the government were able to pull that off, it would merely put a dent in the problem in a city where more than 30,000 people are living on the streets and sidewalks according to the 2020 homelessness count.

Five years into the 10-year plan, just 14 projects are in service. Of the promised 10,000 supportive housing units, the city has completed fewer than 700.

It would take more than 30 years to house all of the people currently homeless in L.A. county at that pace, according to a federal court order.

As the homeless population exploded, some shelter providers implored the mayor to spend more of the money on immediate shelter, mental health services, and substance abuse treatment, but Garcetti went all-in on his ambitious 10-year plan.

Los Angeles's approach to the homelessness crisis is a series of colossal failures. The city has proven itself to be incapable of "solving homelessness," but it could take more modest steps to help alleviate suffering and restore peace and safety to the streets. It could also bring an end to many longstanding policies that caused these men and women to end up homeless in the first place.

Produced and edited by Zach Weissmueller; camera by Benjamin Gaskell, Paul Detrick, and Weissmueller; additional graphics by Calvin Tran and Isaac Reese. 

Photos: David Crane/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Sarah Reingewirtz/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; Image of Sport/Newscom; Image of Sport/Newscom; Dylan Stewart/Image of Sport/Newscom; Caroline Brehman/CQ Roll Call/Newscom; Armando Arorizo/ZUMA Press/Newscom; Sarah Reingewirtz/ZUMAPRESS/Newscom; KYLE GRILLOT/REUTERS/Newscom.