Los Angeles County’s Pathway Home program brought 25 people experiencing homelessness off the streets of Santa Monica and into safe interim housing, where they will receive supportive services and other resources to help them transition out of homelessness and into permanent housing.
“Los Angeles County is here to support the City of Santa Monica in bringing unhoused community members inside and on a pathway to permanent housing,” said Board of Supervisors Chair Lindsey P. Horvath, Third District. “Multiple County departments, County-funded rental subsidies and outreach teams, housing navigators, and mental health clinicians are part of this week’s Pathway Home effort, reflecting the all-hands-on-deck response that our homelessness emergency requires. County-city-community partnerships will see us out of this crisis.”
“All of us want the same thing: to help those living outdoors in our city find a safe place to go and get them on a pathway out of homelessness for good,” Santa Monica Mayor Phil Brock said. “In Santa Monica, we know that we can’t address the homelessness crisis on our own and this partnership with L.A. County allows us to break the cycle of homelessness, ensuring folks are not languishing on our streets and also restoring public spaces to their intended uses.”
James Thomas holds a key to his interim housing during a Pathway Home operation in Santa Monica, Feb. 14, 2024. (Photo by Michael Owen Baker)
The LA County Homeless Initiative collaborated with the Office of Supervisor Lindsey P. Horvath, the City of Santa Monica, and the LA County Metropolitan Transportation Authority to conduct the Pathway Home operation on February 14, 2024. The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA), the nonprofit service provider The People Concern (TPC), and the LA County Department of Mental Health’s Homeless Outreach and Mobile Engagement (HOME) Team were essential to bringing unsheltered residents indoors as they had built trusting relationships with them by providing engagement and support during their unhoused experience.
The LA County Department of Health Services -Housing for Health, LAHSA, and TPC will support the clients at the interim housing location. The LA County Chief Executive Office and LA County Department of Public Health were also critical partners in the operation.
“In the face of our region’s homelessness crisis, the successful launch of LA County’s Pathway Home initiative in Santa Monica reflects our collective effort to offer immediate, services-led solutions and underscores our commitment to the dignity of every individual experiencing homelessness,” said John Maceri, CEO, The People Concern. “By bringing together a robust array of partners and resources, we’re not just addressing the symptoms of homelessness; we’re working towards sustainable, long-term, and permanent solutions. Every person we assist moving from an encampment into stable supportive housing represents a step forward in our journey towards a Los Angeles where everyone is housed, healthy and safe.”
Pathway Home is an LA County Homeless Initiative-led encampment resolution program that is a critical component of the County’s comprehensive response to the local emergency on homelessness adopted by the Board of Supervisors in 2023. By leveraging emergency powers and partnerships with local jurisdictions, Pathway Home is a full-circle solution that brings people off the streets into immediately available interim housing accompanied by a comprehensive suite of supportive services and, ultimately, into safe, permanent homes.
