Congress has cut federal funding for public media — a $3.4 million loss for LAist. We count on readers like you to protect our nonprofit newsroom. Become a monthly member and sustain local journalism.
Hundreds More Mental Health And Addiction Beds For LA’s Unhoused Could Be Coming This Year
A row of tents in downtown Los Angeles, on May 21, 2020.
(
Apu Gomes
/
AFP via Getty Images
)
L.A. County officials have agreed to a new legal settlement that promises hundreds of new beds in the coming months for unhoused people with mental illnesses or substance addiction. It will be up to a judge to decide Thursday whether to approve it.
The details
The proposed settlement with LA Alliance for Human Rights would require adding a total of 1,450 beds to meet that need over the coming years. They’d be available mainly for unhoused people within L.A. city limits.
A little less than half of those beds — 650 — would be required to become available by the end of this year, under the terms of the agreement.
Support for LAist comes from
It’s a major jump from the 300 total beds proposed in a previous deal that was rejected in November by U.S. District Judge David O. Carter.
That said, the new deal remains far short of the 3,000 additional mental health beds a county report found were needed as of 2019 — a number housing experts say has likely expanded since then as the number of unhoused people in the city has continued to rise.
The lack of bed availability in L.A. “result(s) in people being discharged to the street and perpetuating homelessness,” the county report found at the time.
Carter is scheduled to weigh in on the proposal at a hearing Thursday at a downtown L.A. federal courthouse.
When he rejected the county’s previous settlement proposal, Carter said it didn’t provide enough mental health and substance abuse beds.
“I believe we can do better,” Carter said at the time.
Support for LAist comes from
Supervisor Janice Hahn responds
L.A. County Supervisor Janice Hahn, who chairs the board of supervisors that oversees county government, told LAist she supports the deal.
If we can solve the homeless problem in the city of Los Angeles, we have really gone so far towards ending homelessness in L.A. County.
— Supervisor Janice Hahn
“This is going to mean more mental health treatment beds, more substance abuse treatment beds. So we are going to get more people who have been languishing on our streets the help they need,” Hahn said in an interview Wednesday.
“If we can solve the homeless problem in the city of Los Angeles, we have really gone so far towards ending homelessness in L.A. County. So this is where we’re focused,” she added.
In a separate settlement reached last year, L.A. city officials agreed to create more than 14,000 more beds for unhoused people within five years. But those would not be for people with serious mental illnesses or substance use disorders — because, the city said, that’s the county’s responsibility.
When will the beds become available?
If approved by Carter, the new county settlement would require 1,000 new beds for people with mental health or substance use disorders over the next 3 1/2 years.
Support for LAist comes from
The first 300 beds would have to be available by the end of June, with another 310 by the end of this year and the rest of the beds phased in by the end of 2026.
The agreement would also require the county to provide subsidies for another 450 people to live and get services at board and care homes in residential neighborhoods. Those would be slower to roll out, with just 40 required by the end of this year and the next 160 by the end of 2024.
The proposed deal also increases the number of county street outreach teams to cover all Los Angeles city council districts, according to the county.
County officials called the settlement “historic” in a news release announcing the deal.
It involves $850.5 million in additional funding to increase beds, services, outreach, and interim housing, according to the county.
“I think this agreement — while it’s not maybe as good as some wanted — it is a lot better than the last one,” Hahn told LAist.
“And I hope the judge agrees.”
Support for LAist comes from
Read the proposed settlement
Click here to read the proposed county settlement.
As Editor-in-Chief of our newsroom, I’m extremely proud of the work our top-notch journalists are doing here at LAist. We’re doing more hard-hitting watchdog journalism than ever before — powerful reporting on the economy, elections, climate and the homelessness crisis that is making a difference in your lives. At the same time, it’s never been more difficult to maintain a paywall-free, independent news source that informs, inspires, and engages everyone.
Simply put, we cannot do this essential work without your help. Federal funding for public media has been clawed back by Congress and that means LAist has lost $3.4 million in federal funding over the next two years. So we’re asking for your help. LAist has been there for you and we’re asking you to be here for us.
We rely on donations from readers like you to stay independent, which keeps our nonprofit newsroom strong and accountable to you.
No matter where you stand on the political spectrum, press freedom is at the core of keeping our nation free and fair. And as the landscape of free press changes, LAist will remain a voice you know and trust, but the amount of reader support we receive will help determine how strong of a newsroom we are going forward to cover the important news from our community.
Please take action today to support your trusted source for local news with a donation that makes sense for your budget.
Thank you for your generous support and believing in independent news.
Chip in now to fund your local journalism
(
LAist
)
Trending on LAist
-
The U.S. Supreme Court lifted limits on immigration sweeps in Southern California, overturning a lower court ruling that prohibited agents from stopping people based on their appearance. -
Censorship has long been controversial. But lately, the issue of who does and doesn’t have the right to restrict kids’ access to books has been heating up across the country in the so-called culture wars.
-
With less to prove than LA, the city is becoming a center of impressive culinary creativity.
-
Nearly 470 sections of guardrailing were stolen in the last fiscal year in L.A. and Ventura counties.
-
Monarch butterflies are on a path to extinction, but there is a way to support them — and maybe see them in your own yard — by planting milkweed.
-
With California voters facing a decision on redistricting this November, Surf City is poised to join the brewing battle over Congressional voting districts.
Best of LAist