@SpecNews1SoCal profiles a family that went from Venice Beach encampment to permanent home. bit.ly/3nzpM0m

Our Encampments to Homes program busted the myth that people prefer to be homeless.

Outreach can work - with time, trust & real housing resources.

(Thread)
LA’s approach to homelessness fails because it’s often based on false assumptions. One of the worst is that most unhoused people are “service resistant.”

Blaming people for being unhoused disguises the real problem: systemic barriers that keep people from saying yes.
This week Council approved a new “street engagement strategy” for homelessness.

It’s an improvement over the current system, for sure, but it was constructed as a reaction to other policies that assume people need to be coerced into leaving the streets.
We need to be asking why people don’t say yes to what’s being offered.

In many cases, it’s that they don’t believe the offer. Other times, the wrong thing is being offered.

Rather than assume people are service-resistant, we need to ask if the system is “people resistant.”
With that in mind, I proposed improvements to the street engagement strategy, designed to remove barriers unhoused people commonly identify to getting off the street.

These changes would make it easier for people to move inside, and that eliminates encampments in neighborhoods.
Here's what I proposed:

Offers of shelter or housing must be made by a caseworker or outreach worker - not by law enforcement, sanitation officials, etc.

Trusting relationships between unhoused people and outreach workers who know their needs and histories are key.
Offers of shelter or housing must be appropriate for the needs of the individual (such as youth accommodations for youth, domestic violence beds for survivors of domestic violence).

We should not be pushing people to go somewhere that is harmful for them.
Transportation to shelter or housing must be provided by a non-law enforcement service, and admission to housing must be authorized by the operator in advance of such transit.

We do not want to repeat what LASD did when they left a disabled vet overnight outside the VA.
Adequate storage for belongings must be provided to those being transported or directed to placements.

We shouldn't force people to abandon their possessions.
Families and partners and social units must be allowed to stay intact in interim placements.

We should not break up families and disrupt vital support systems.
Individuals should be offered alternatives to congregate shelters, if desired, when @CDCgov or @lapublichealth
guidelines are advising against congregate accommodations.

We shouldn't force people to put their health at risk.
A valid offer of shelter or interim housing must be matched with a genuine long-term housing resource, such as a housing voucher, rental subsidy, or permanent supportive housing unit.

Shuffling people through interim housing and back out onto the streets does not work.
We tried to apply these practices in Venice. @stjosephctr and @lahomeless put in the time and built the trust, and they were able to offer not just temporary shelter, but a path to real, long-term housing.

It made all the difference in the world.
My proposed amendment, seconded by @nithyavraman, was sent to the Homelessness & Poverty Committee, where @mrtempower has promised to discuss and refine the ideas.

To provide adequate resources, we will need approval of MRT’s #HousingNow legislation: bit.ly/39ac1Ny
Los Angeles can’t continue to be a place where people live and die on our streets. We can’t continue to be a city of encampments in our neighborhoods.

But we can't enforce or legislate our way out of the homelessness crisis.
There is a successful way to get people indoors, out of encampments, and into housing with services.

That’s how we save lives. That’s how we keep public spaces and rights-of-way clear.

That’s how everyone wins.

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More from @mikebonin

16 Sep
A big problem with homelessness policy is that it’s often based on the assumption that most unhoused people are “service resistant.”

It's largely a myth that leads to failed, expensive enforcement strategies, keeping people & encampments on the streets.

(thread)
Blaming people for being unhoused disguises the real problem: systemic barriers that keep people from accepting shelter or housing.

Those barriers prevent real progress.
We need to be asking why people don’t say yes to what’s being offered.

In many cases, it’s that they don’t believe the offer. Other times, the wrong thing is being offered.

Rather than assume people are service-resistant, we need to ask if the system is “people resistant.”
Read 20 tweets
7 Sep
In Venice this summer, we showed how transparency, trust, time, partnership, and outreach with *real* housing resources could address homelessness and reduce encampments. Today, in Mar Vista, the city did the exact opposite, disrupting housing efforts and causing harm. thread 1/8
There were about 15 unhoused people, mostly seniors, living in a remote corner of Mar Vista Park. Working with @hollymitchell @lahomeless and community partners, we were on track to find housing for people by an Oct deadline from @lacityparks. 2/8
This morning, rangers forced people out of the park and onto the sidewalks in nearby neighborhoods. We need to know why and how this happened and at whose direction. It was the opposite of the best practices we modeled with Venice Beach Encampments to Homes. 3/8
Read 8 tweets
5 Aug
The LA Times looks at the Venice Beach Encampments to Homes program, which helped 211 people move indoors, and asks: ‘Can’t this happen all over the city’?

The answer is Yes.

Here’s a rundown of what we did, what we learned, and what we need. (thread)
latimes.com/opinion/story/…
The E2H program, a collaboration of agencies and run by @StJosephCtr, was designed as new approach to help our unhoused neighbors quickly and compassionately. It helped bust a pervasive and negative stereotype about homelessness and how to solve it
As the @latimes puts it, our work with Venice Beach Encampments to Homes disproves “the trope that homeless people living on the street are “service resistant.” Even people who professed their love of the view of the ocean from their tents left for brick and mortar housing.”
Read 16 tweets
5 Aug
UPDATE ON HYPERION SEWAGE SPILL

Residents and visitors to beaches continue to report nausea, headaches and odors from Santa Monica Bay following an emergency discharge last month from Hyperion Water Reclamation Plant of 17 million gallons of raw sewage.

(thread) 1/10
@LACitySAN has agreed to pay for hotels and air conditioning for El Segundo residents impacted by the spill, and I am insisting on the same for LA’s own residents in Playa del Rey.

2/10
Recent beach water quality tests have indicated the water in the Santa Monica Bay is safe for human recreation. All beach advisories for the Westside and South Bay have been lifted because water samples have not exceeded state water quality standards.

3/10
Read 10 tweets
8 Jun
The sheriff says he's coming to Venice.

He didn’t call to offer services or housing, which would help. He went on a PR blitz, promising his own notorious brand of justice.

To anyone familiar with Villanueva and LASD, that's incredibly ominous.

(thread) (1/15)
Any involvement from Villanueva is troubling, especially for people concerned with civil rights.

Here's some of what the Civilian Oversight Commission said about him and LASD:

*threatened progress on reforms designed to enhance accountability for deputy misconduct.

(2/15)
*removed the department’s constitutional policing advisors

*attempted to rehire deputies who were fired for cause, such as fabricating evidence and domestic violence.

(3/15)
Read 15 tweets
3 Jun
There is loud and growing criticism of homeless housing from people saying homelessness is about addiction and mental health, not housing. We absolutely need more mental health & drug rehab services -- and we can't address these issues among the unhoused without housing. (1/13)
Homelessness is caused by myriad factors, both systemic and personal. Whether the cause is eviction, job loss, domestic violence, a health issue, or an addiction, a necessary part of the solution is housing. (2/13)
We need significantly more resources to handle our mental health crisis and our drug crisis, especially meth, heroin and fentanyl. People are spiraling into personal Hell in front of our eyes, and mental health, rehab and recovery resources are way too scarce. (3/13)
Read 13 tweets

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