The Board of Supervisors proclaimed a Local Emergency for Homelessness in the County of Los Angeles.
The motion’s authors, Supervisors Lindsey Horvath and Kathryn Barger, said that “proclaiming a local emergency to address this critical crisis will provide the County with additional tools to accelerate and expand its response through the Homeless Initiative and in collaboration with our city partners.”
Newly elected Mayor Karen Bass declared a state of emergency in the City of Los Angeles on December 12, and the Board of Supervisors pledged a week later to support those efforts. On January 10, the Board went further, declaring a state of emergency in the County of Los Angeles.
“We have found solutions that work, but they are notenough and need to be implemented at a faster pace and greater scale,” Supervisor Horvath said. “We must also enhance our approaches to preventing individuals from becoming homeless. For example, 20,000 homeless individuals are being housed each year (90% have stayed housed), but even more individuals have become newly homeless.”
“A local emergency will allow the County to streamline and accelerate contracting, procurement, and hiring related to homelessness, and also accelerate the creation of licensed beds, interim housing, and permanent housing,” she added. “Filling vacant positions in key County departments will be critical to increasing the County’s response, the emergency declaration will help facilitate and expedite County hiring by potentially offering bonuses, higher salary schedules, and loan repayment programs to employees.”
The County’s response to the local emergency will be led by the Homeless Initiative within the County’s Chief Executive Office, but all County departments will be involved.
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