Why LA County Is Spending $1.8M To House People Released From Jail With Nowhere To Go

The L.A. County Board Of Supervisors approved a plan this week to purchase a $1.84 million building across the street from the Men’s Central Jail and turn it into interim housing for people who are leaving jail and have nowhere to go.

The county plans to turn the building at 955 North Vignes Ave., which has 4,760 square feet of office space into accommodations for 10 to 15 beds and round-the-clock staff — part of its Warm Landing Place program.

Why now

The move is in line with the county’s larger “Care First, Jails Last” plan, which prioritizes jail diversion programs over incarceration.

“This program embodies our Care First approach, ensuring that those transitioning back into the community have a safe space, access to essential resources, and the support they need,” said Songhai Armstead, the county’s Justice, Care and Opportunities Department director, in a statement.

According to the office of Supervisor Hilda Solis, who co-authored the motion, more than 60% of an estimated 75,000 or more unsheltered people in L.A County have been through the criminal justice system.

Many of them struggle to get housing after they’re out.

“Without housing, someone coming out of jail is going to have a really hard time getting a job, getting mental health care that they need, getting sobriety treatment,” said Claire Simonich, associate director of Vera California, a group that has the mission of ending over-criminalization and mass incarceration.

How this relates to goal of closing Men's Central Jail

Simonich said the new Warm Landing site would help the county move toward its goal of closing the aging Men’s Central Jail, by giving judges a housing option for justice-involved people outside of jail.

“So if a judge is hesitant to release somebody who's incarcerated — because they don’t have anywhere to go, they don’t have housing, they don’t know if they’ll be connected to the immediate mental health care and substance use disorder treatment that they need — judges can now have this assurance that there is a place that people can go to,” Simonich said.

Part of the plan is to use the Safe Landing Place not only for temporary housing, but as a hub to connect formerly incarcerated people with mental health care and other services.

It's a "person-centered approach," said Adam Bettino, deputy director of the Justice, Care and Opportunities Department.

“If a person gets out [of jail] and has a specific need, we are going to bend over backwards to meet that need,” he said.

What's next

In a statement, county supervisors said the Warm Landing Place program work to address a major factor in the recidivism rate: people with insufficiently treated mental illness who cycle from psychiatric hospitals to the streets and to jail.

County officials said they hope to have the purchase of the property finalized in June.