Combating Homelessness
California is home to 20 percent of the nation’s homeless population, and the problem is particularly acute in Los Angeles and San Francisco.
According to the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) latest count, there are more than 44,000 homeless individuals in Los Angeles County, including more than 4,000 homeless veterans. Chronic homelessness — experiencing homelessness for more than one year — has increased a staggering 55 percent in the past three years.
There are nearly 6,700 homeless individuals in San Francisco County, a per capita rate even higher than Los Angeles.
Despite the concentration of homelessness in our cities, it cannot be dismissed as a local issue for local officials to solve. The city, county, state and federal governments all have roles to play.
We must first acknowledge homelessness is a multifaceted issue. Individuals experience homelessness for different reasons and homelessness is often a symptom of deeper issues.
Different strategies are needed to help different populations and the federal government should help implement them throughout California.
Mental illness and substance abuse are often the root cause of chronic homelessness. For example, it’s estimated that 20 percent of inmates in Los Angeles County Jail — more than 4,000 — are experiencing mental illness. Individuals are given the medication they need in jail but do not receive it after they are released. This triggers an endless cycle of incarceration and homelessness.
On the other hand, homeless families are simply unable to pay their rent. The costs of living in Los Angeles and San Francisco are incredibly high and affordable housing is limited. A job loss, unexpected illness or rent increase can quickly result in homelessness. Families are then forced to live in motels or double up with friends and acquaintances.
Homeless veterans often experience Post Traumatic Stress Disorder or other service-connected disabilities that make it much more difficult to adjust to civilian life and find a job.
Chronic Homelessness
To combat chronic homelessness, we must significantly expand access to mental health services and substance abuse treatment. This is best done by expanding short-term supportive housing — housing coupled with vital counseling services and treatment.
This is particularly important in San Francisco, where it is estimated that 50 percent of the homeless population is experiencing mental illness or addiction.
These programs, funded in part by the Departments of Veterans Affairs (VA), Health and Human Services and HUD help individuals access the care they need to secure employment and live independently.
Family Homelessness
To reduce homelessness among families, the federal government must provide additional funding and eliminate barriers that make it difficult to get help.
Under the definition of homelessness used by HUD, families that pay daily rates to live in motels or double up with friends are not counted as homeless because they are not sleeping on the streets or in an emergency shelter.
This makes it much harder for them to access housing programs.
Last year, Congress took an important step to address this issue by including a provision I authored in a sweeping education law. This provision allows school personnel to certify that children are homeless and therefore eligible for services administered or funded by the federal government.
For example, a teacher who knows that a student’s family is living in a motel will be able to write a letter certifying that the student is homeless. The student can then use that letter to easily verify their eligibility for homeless services at local nonprofits organizations like Covenant House California.
This change will help the nearly 260,000 homeless students in California obtain permanent housing.
Affordable Housing
Significantly more affordable housing is also needed. While this is primarily a local responsibility involving development policies and zoning regulations, the federal government can help by ensuring that funding needed to jump-start these projects is not subject to burdensome regulations.
California communities have lost $14.4 million since 2011 due to a burdensome time constraint that requires communities to commit funds to specific projects within 24 months. Given additional requirements on project selection, underwriting standards and developer capacity, communities are often unable to meet this deadline. This means the funds are lost.
The amendment eliminates the requirement for designating funds within 24 months but maintains the four-year timeline for project completion.
This policy change would help address California’s affordable housing crisis by ensuring communities have flexibility and federal funds remain available as communities pursue other sources of financing, including low-income housing tax credits.
While communities fund capital projects using a range of financing sources, federal funds are often necessary to jump-start projects because they assure developers of their viability.
Veteran Homelessness
The federal government plays the biggest role in reducing veteran homelessness. Significant federal resources are available through the West Los Angeles VA campus, near the nation’s highest concentration of homeless veterans.
Those resources are being deployed to build more supportive housing that includes access to job placement and education services, in addition to counseling.
The campus’s Building 209 was recently renovated. Building 208 is under construction and the renovation of Building 205 is funded. This is a good step, but much more housing is needed.
That’s why one of my top priorities in this Congress is passing the Los Angeles Homeless Veterans Leasing Act.
The bill would give the VA the authority to lease facilities to nonprofit and community partners to build more housing and provide additional services. It will allow the department to build new housing more quickly, and more affordably, than it would be able to through the traditional VA construction process.
The final master plan, released earlier this year, lays out a new vision for the West Los Angeles campus. The leasing authority provided by the bill is an essential tool to implement that new master plan.
The Senate is working to pass a large veterans legislation package that includes our bill. Once it’s signed into law by the president, more housing and resources will be available to veterans in the Los Angeles area.
While homelessness is a difficult societal problem, it is not impossible to solve. If all levels of government work together, implement diverse strategies and dedicate sufficient resources to mental health, substance-abuse treatment, and affordable housing, we can address this growing problem.
