Los Angeles

Los Angeles faces a significant crisis in homelessness, Section 8 and public housing.

Homelessness

Los Angeles has the distinction of being the nation’s homelessness capital.  Approximately 74,000 people are homeless in Los Angeles county, and approximately 40,000 of those live in the city of Los Angeles. Currently, local government cannot meet the basic needs of the city’s homeless population, has done an inadequate job preventing homelessness in the first instance and is not prepared to provide services for the estimated 21,000 new homeless cases – due to rising unemployment, which in Los Angeles county has reached 10.5 %.

It has become nearly impossible to provide shelter and/or permanent affordable housing for the city’s current and growing homeless population.
In Los Angeles, most of the emergency shelters and transitional shelters are full on any given night and some keep waiting lists.

Public Housing

The waiting list for public housing can be years long in Los Angeles, depending on size of the family in need of housing. In 2008, the Housing Authority of Los Angeles transferred 655 units of public housing to Project- based Section 8 apartments.

National legislation for an immediate moratorium on the demolition/disposition of public housing is critical to preserve this housing stock in Los Angeles.  Of immediate concern are the tenants residing at the Jordan Downs Housing Community, a development which is scheduled for a complete overhaul. It is still unclear whether all of the current tenants will be allowed to move into the replacement housing without having to reapply for public housing and endure background and other eligibility checks.

Section 8

Those relying on Section 8 haven’t fared much better.  The Housing Authority of Los Angeles (HACLA) has been closed for new Section 8 applications since 2004. They are just now servicing constituents who applied in 2002 and 2003.

HACLA has set aside 4,011 vouchers for the homeless as part of a special program. This program is now frozen until May, 2009. The homeless population can only access these vouchers through one of the non-profit agencies contracted with the Housing Authority of Los Angeles. These contracted non-profit agencies are to capacity and, in some cases, have exceeded their allotment of Section 8 referrals to the homeless population. HACLA reports that they currently have more applications than available vouchers for the homeless.

Many Section 8 and public housing applicants have been, and continue to be, purged from the Section 8 waiting list for lack of a consistent address during the lengthy time it takes between applying for Section 8 and being contacted for an interview. Many people are purged from the waiting list without their knowledge.

It is critical that our government increases the number of Section 8 vouchers nationally, including in Los Angeles.  This will help meet the current need for government subsidized housing in Los Angeles. If we are successful in the movement to add an additional 200,000 vouchers nationally, it would only mean an increase of about 2,000 vouchers in Los Angeles, not nearly enough to service the current homeless population or the estimated 21,000 new people that will become homeless in Los Angeles in the next two years.

As part of the Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights, in March 2009, Congresswoman Maxine Waters held an official hearing in Los Angeles of the Financial Services Subcommittee of the Housing and Community Opportunity to address these issues. Housing justice advocacy and tenant groups are determined to pass federal legislation to address these critical housing issues.

Los Angeles housing rights organizations have formed a coalition to address these myriad of issues facing the right to housing in Los Angeles.  Housing Justice Partners are:

L.A. Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness
People Organized for Westside Renewal
USC School of Social Work
Beyond Shelter
Coalition for Economic Survival
Union De Vecinos
L.A. Community Action Network

Los Angeles Groups in the Campaign to Restore National Housing Rights

Beyond Shelter
Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger & Homelessness
Los Angeles Community Action Network
People Organized for Westside Renewal (POWER)
Union De Vecinos