Council Told Efforts to Combat Homelessness Gaining Steam

By Olin Ericksen
Staff Writer

March 30 -- City officials Tuesday night updated the City Council on a plethora of new and evolving strategies in combating homelessness that will focus on Santa Monica as a model for the rest of the county.

Santa Monica’s efforts -- which one council member compared to a “locomotive gaining steam” -- are turning the beachside city into a regional leader for a series of initiatives to gain consensus and support from even the most reluctant communities, while the city fine-tunes its own strategies.

“The City of Santa Monica is looked upon as a model program for dealing with the homeless,” said Ed Edelmen, the former LA County Supervisor and Santa Monica's new high-profile official charged with garnering regional support for homeless issues. “We can set an example.”

The groundwork is already being laid, said Edelman, who is being paid $200,000 a year.

Recently, Edelmen was visited in his Santa Monica office by Phil Mangano, head of the Inter-Agency Council on Homelessness for the Federal government, as well as Dick Schermerhorn, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger’s pick to be the state’s coordinator on homelessness.

Subjects of conversation with both men included:

• Backing a “unique and incredible” mull-million dollar plan being considered by County Supervisors to ease the burden on Downtown’s Skid Row by setting up homeless centers throughout Los Angeles county,
• Buttressing a separate regional plan to end homelessness, known as Bring LA Home, to be unveiled April 6, and
• Supporting a State Assembly bill that would make several changes to the system serving the homeless, which was supported in a resolution by the council Tuesday night. (see staff report)

Not all of the regional work has been done from behind Edelmen’s desk at City Hall. City staff has also traveled to Santa Clara County to view a “mental health court” at work.

The “mental health court” -- which separates out the mentally ill for special treatment -- has treated 700 mentally ill persons in the last year, eliminating 130,000 jail cell days in a year and saving the county an estimated $8.5 million in taxpayer money, according to City officials.

A similar “community court” is being proposed by Edelmen for Santa Monica.

Signaling that momentum is gaining closer to home, City staff noted that a program -- slated to be instituted in Culver City through St. Joseph’s Center -- will help 25 homeless individuals in that area.

In addition, there is a program underway in West Hollywood to reunite the homeless with their families, and Los Angeles Council member Bill Rosendahl is cooperating on key homeless issues.

There are studies being proposed as well, according to City staff.

Santa Monica’s own homeless service model will be audited starting next month, and a proposed study is in the works to determine how much the homeless are costing area hospitals.

“We’re willing to document what the cost is in order to mount an advocacy campaign for service enriched housing,” said Kate Vernez, assistant to the city manager for governmental relations.

Vernez also noted that on April 28, the local chamber of commerce is meeting to discuss how the business community can get involved.

“The idea behind all of these solutions is to engage all of the stakeholders, from the courts, the cities, the hospital and the business community,” said Vernez.

A common thread runs through each of the plans, and it involves turning to Santa Monica, known as “the home of the homeless,” to serve as a model for carrying out the initiatives.

In the past two years, Santa Monica has pioneered a million-dollar pilot program, which targeted 81 of Santa Monica’s most hard-core homeless, according to City officials. The program, which emphasizes providing housing with services, even if the person is not fully rehabilitated, will use the lion’s share of a federal grant for rent.

Of the 81 “chronically homeless” individuals targeted by the program, 42 have been placed in housing, with 17 placed in permanent and 25 in temporary housing. Twenty have received case management, 15 have been actively engaged by “help teams,” two have been incarcerated, one has been hospitalized and one has died, according to the update by City staff.

Acting Human Services Manager Mona Miyasato characterized the program as successful and gaining momentum, especially in the last year.

Twenty-five people were originally enrolled in the program, and this year the number has more than doubled to 56.

County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky “has sent people to come and look” at the plan, Miyasato said.

Santa Monica officials are even taking a stab at smoothing over relations with groups that provide free meals for the homeless in city parks and on the City Hall lawn. For years, the groups have stubbornly refused City efforts to move the programs indoors. Edelmen met with the groups recently, and a report on the issue is due out soon.

With so many efforts afoot, Council member Richard Bloom -- a chief architect of the “Bring LA Home” plan to get the County’s 88,000 homeless off the streets in the next decade -- said it appears that momentum is building.

“This is just a locomotive that keeps gaining steam,” he said of regional and local efforts. “I don’t think we’ve ever had more reason for optimism in providing some substantive solutions to the homeless issue.”

But he also urged caution, as well as determination, to keep the drive alive.

“I want to take one step back, though all these things are really impressive,” he said. “In a sense we’re only scratching the surface here. We can’t be complacent.”