FAQ - HANDBOOK ON HOMELESSNESS

It is worth acknowledging that Los Angeles and the rest of the country has always been “here,” if “here” means the existence of people living on the streets or out of their cars.

‍

There are multiple reasons why homelessness is more prevalent today. It’s beyond the scope of these FAQs to provide much detail about the different factors, but it’s important to make sure someone approaching the issue does so with an awareness of all the relevant factors

‍

Housing is clearly a major component and, as is well known, LA and California have a much higher cost of housing (measured as a percentage of income) than most of the rest of the country. Butt hat is not the whole story. While Houston has cheaper housing and a lower homeless percentage, it is also true that New York City has less homelessness as a percentage of its population than LA.

‍

Moreover, blaming the high cost of housing on “greedy” developers is overly simplistic. To the extent LA has higher minimum standards for housing than other jurisdictions, that drives up the price, even if the standards are perceived as valuable. Union labor can be more expensive than non-union labor and mandated solar panels, whatever their long-term benefits, raise the price of housing. Another very important factor contributing to the high cost of housing is the fact that almost 80% of the land area of the City of Los Angeles is zoned exclusively for single-family housing

‍

Also, some argue that the more difficult it is to evict tenants, the more incentive there is for landlords to deny housing to all but the most credit worthy applicants.

‍

Failures to deal with persons suffering from a serious mental illness have left many of them out on the streets. Failure to deal with persons with a substance use disorder have left many of them out on the streets. Previously, our jails housed many persons with a serious mental illness or substance use disorder. The effective decriminalization of many of the behaviors associated with these illnesses put many more of them on the streets.

Changes in policy by LA have increased the visibility of homelessness. Before the pandemic LA allowed persons to sleep on the streets (as required by law) but required tents to be down from 9p.m. to 6 a.m. In response to the pandemic, LA passed a resolution suspending the enforcement of this rule until the COVID-19 Emergency Declaration was no longer in effect, which allowed tents to be erected permanently, greatly increasing the visibility of persons experiencing homelessness. As of September 1, 2022, the Emergency Declaration appears to still be in effect.

While LA has rules limiting the amount of belongings that persons experiencing homelessness can have, as of December 2022, there is very limited enforcement of these rules, so there is generally no practical limit on how much material a person experiencing homeless can store outside his or her tent, so long as the property is considered attended.

Because of LA’s self-imposed limits on removing trash, trash is allowed to build up around tents.

There is effectively no enforcement of laws against public urination and defecation.

And, of course, a lack of resources and failures in coordinating the resources that are available ispart of the problem.

For persons experiencing homelessness, the long list of challenging problems include:

‍

• Lack of immediate access to toilet/shower facilities if you are living by yourself on the streets.
• The increased risk of illness due to unsanitary living conditions.
• The increased risk of crime and other forms of trauma.

‍

All this results in significantly worse life expectancies for persons experiencing homelessness.

‍

For the housed community, homelessness degrades their quality of life significantly. There is trashall over the place. People experiencing homelessness are allowed to use the streets as toilets.Public toilet facilities are generally unavailable. And it is unpleasant to interact with people who aredecompensating on the street due to a serious mental illness or exhibiting symptoms stemmingfrom a substance abuse disorder

Even before turning to legal rules, there is a threshold question—what does it mean to be “a person experiencing homelessness”? Of course, someone sleeping in the streets is a person experiencing homelessness. But broadly speaking, persons experiencing homelessness can be divided into these categories*:

‍

• Persons sleeping on the streets, either on the sidewalk or in tents
• Persons sleeping in their vehicles
• Persons in interim shelters

‍

While most of the public attention goes to the first category because of its greater visibility, understanding the other groupings is of high importance--both on humanitarian grounds and because of the high risk that persons sleeping in vehicles, in interim shelters, or couch surfing will end up on the streets absent help.

‍

A related concept to “homelessness” is that of “chronic homelessness,” since chronically homeless individuals have housing priorities under certain programs. Generally speaking, a person is considered “chronically homeless” if he or she:

‍

1. Has a disability that is expected to be long-continuing or of indefinite duration, which substantially impedes the person’s ability to live independently, and which could be improved by more suitable housing conditions
2. Lives in a place not fit for human habitation
3. Has been living in such a place continuously for at least 12 months.

The Los Angeles Housing Authority (LAHSA) released the results of its annual homelessness census in September 2022. There was no census in 2021 due to COVID-19. Of particular note is that, despite all the efforts to remediate homelessness in the last two years, the number of persons experiencing homeless has continued to increase (though less rapidly than in prior years).In interpreting the survey, it should be noted that the 2022 results have been criticized on the ground that there was unexplained undercounting of persons experiencing homelessness in some areas.

‍

Others have noted, however, that a survey like the LAHSA survey is generally only accurate within+/- 5% or 10%, and the errors that have been found don’t appear to indicate that this margin of error was exceeded.

‍

The LAHSA survey found 69,144 persons experiencing homelessness in Los Angeles County (up from 66,436 in 2020) and 41,980 in the City of Los Angeles (up from 41,290 in 2020).With respect to the City of Los Angeles, some of the relevant demographic data are:

‍

• 83% Single individuals
• 66%/33%/1%Male/female/gender non-binary(2% of this total was also listed as transgender)
• 14% Persons under 25
• Sexual orientation—89% straight, 3% gay or lesbian, 5% bisexual, 3% questioning
• 38% Chronically homeless(generally, homeless for more than one year with a disabling condition)

‍

The 2022 LAHSA census reported data for Hollywood, which encompasses a geographic area that differs in some respect from the boundaries used by Hollywood 4WRD but is close enough for the results to be comparable. The Hollywood data both paralleled the citywide data and differed in certain significant ways, as indicated by these statistics:

‍

• 88% Single individuals
• 74%/20%/5% Male/female/gender non-binary(6% of this total was also listed as transgender)
• 20% Persons under 25
• Sexual orientation—76% straight, 11% gay or lesbian, 8% bisexual, 5% questioning
• 52% Chronically homeless

‍

The 2022 LAHSA data for Hollywood reports (data only relates to persons over 17):

‍

• 31% of the populations have a substance use disorder
• 29% of the populations have a serious mental illness
• 19% of the populations have a developmental disability
• 17% of the populations have a physical disability
• 8% of the populations have HIV/AIDS

‍

With respect to Hollywood, one finding of note is that LAHSA determined that the total number of persons experiencing homelessness in Hollywood had declined from 4364 to 1872. This57% decline is inconsistent with the general perception that homelessness in Hollywood has worsened since 2020. In determining how to interpret the new data, an important point to note is that the great majority of the decrease occurred in what LAHSA refers to as “transition age youth,” defined as persons under 25. In 2020 this group amounted to 2625 persons. In 2022, it had dropped to 366 persons, a decline of 2259 persons, accounting for almost all of the total decline of 2492 persons. This drop is inconsistent with what TAY-focused organizations who are part of the Hollywood 4WRD coalition have reported about the change in the number of transition age youth over this period.

Understanding the degree to which homelessness is a serious mental illness/substance use disorder issue has very major practical consequences:

‍

• The policies for both interim housing and permanent supportive housing generally disallow the use of drugs or alcohol on the premises. This means a portion of the persons experiencing homelessness are unlikely to trade the streets or their vehicles for housing, if doing so means living with these restrictions. Understanding this systemic disconnect is critical to crafting solutions that work.
• Subsidized housing by itself is not a solution for persons with a serious mental illness or a substance use disorder. Other supportive services are needed. What kind and how much requires knowing the number of persons affected. This is particularly important since, as will be discussed, there is a woeful shortage of such supportive services.

‍

There are many reasons why the data on serious mental illness/substance use disorders is uncertain. One problem is that the homeless population is constantly changing. So, while we believe the percentages do not change greatly year to year, it is important to remain aware of the shifts when they do occur.

‍

Third, there are additional issues in accurately identifying persons with a serious mental illness or a substance use disorder. Self-reported data can often be inaccurate. In the case of a serious mental illness, there is even a medical term used to describe an individual’s inability to recognize their own condition—anosognosia. A common estimate is that 50% or more of the persons suffering from a serious mental illness are not aware of their condition. Self-reporting may be an equally significant problem with substance use disorders since, in the case of drugs other than marijuana, the activity in question is illegal, regardless of whether actual enforcement of the law is taking place. Of course, outreach workers and other personnel interact with persons experiencing homelessness and their observations are important. But this kind of data is not systematically tabulated, and, in any event, it is difficult with limited observation to know whether (1) a person has a lesser form of mental illness or a serious mental illness or (2) whether the person is occasionally intoxicated or has a substance use disorder.

‍

The 2022 LAHSA survey reported the following data with respect to substance use disorders and mental illness in Los Angeles County, the City of Los Angeles, and Hollywood:

‍

These percentages are not additive—that is, some persons have both a substance use disorder and a serious mental illness, so they would be counted twice in the statistics. We should also note that there is great controversy regarding the accuracy of this data, with many believing that the data significantly undercounts persons suffering from a substance use disorder or a serious mental illness.
‍

Based on the experience of Hollywood 4WRD and our partner organizations, it is believed that the

LAHSA statistics significantly under report the percentages for Hollywood, and that a majority of

persons experiencing homelessness in Hollywood suffer from either a substance use disorder and/

or a serious mental illness (known as a co-occurring disorder when both are involved). By way of

example, the LAHSA report on persons experiencing homelessness in 2019 reported that only 29%

of the persons experiencing homelessness had either a serious mental illness or a substance use

disorder while a study by the Los Angeles Times of 2019 data concluded that 67% of the persons

experiencing homelessness reported being, or were observed to be, affected by mental illness or a

substance use disorder.

And, while it may be obvious, it bears emphasizing that (1) a serious mental illness or substance

use disorder is a contributing factor to homelessness and (2) homelessness increases the chances

of a serious mental illness or substance use disorder.

Data from The Hollywood Partnership, the business improvement district covering much of central

Hollywood indicates that most persons experiencing homelessness in Hollywood are from

California. Persons experiencing homelessness are asked each month where they were from.

The data response in March 2022 indicated that, of the persons experiencing homelessness that

answered, over 75% said they were from California. This is consistent with data from other months.

‍

Data from the LAHSA 2022 homeless count is consistent with this conclusion, finding that 79%

of the persons age 25 and older experiencing homelessness in LA County reported residing in

California before experiencing homelessness (65% reported previously residing in LA County and

10% reported residing in another Southern California county).

In order to understand the current situation in LA, it is necessary to understand two sets of federal

cases—those concerning the right to sleep in the streets and those limiting LA’s ability to remove

items from the street if they belong to people.

‍

Before turning to the cases themselves, it is useful to set down some basic information about how

the judicial system operates. Below the United States Supreme Court, the country is divided into 13

Circuit Courts, called the United States Courts of Appeal. California plus eight other states (Alaska,

Arizona, Hawaii, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington) make up the 9th Circuit. The

Supreme Court has not ruled on the key issues affecting homelessness, so the key cases are from

the 9th Circuit. We are unaware of any other judicial circuits that have reached the same results as

the 9th Circuit. What this means in practical terms is that it is uncertain whether the key 9th Circuit

cases regulating homelessness will remain valid if the Supreme Court ever examines the issue.

By far the best-known homelessness case applicable to California is Martin v. City of Boise,

decided by the 9th Circuit in 2019. The Supreme Court decided not to review the case, so it is

governing law in the 9th Circuit.

‍

The 9th Circuit struck down a Boise law that made it a misdemeanor to “use any of the streets,

sidewalks, parks, or public places as a camping place at any time.” This law was held to violate

the 8th Amendment’s prohibition on cruel and unusual punishment. Readers who want a deeper

understanding of the merits of the decision should read both read the decision and the dissents to

the opinion that can be found at the above location (technically, the dissents are to the 9th Circuit’s

decision to not have the case reheard by all the judges on the 9th Circuit).

‍

The critical language in the opinion reads as follows:

‍

“’[S]o long as there is a greater number of homeless individuals in

[a jurisdiction] than the number of available beds [in shelters],’ the

jurisdiction cannot prosecute homeless individuals for involuntarily

sitting, lying and sleeping in public.’ ...That is, as long as there is

no option of sleeping indoors, the government cannot criminalize

indigent, homeless people for sleeping outdoors, on public property,

on the false premises they had a choice in the matter.”

‍

Obviously, the issue of what a city should do about homelessness is different from the issue of

what a city is required to do by the Constitution. But the starting point is understanding what

the Constitution requires. People commonly refer to Martin as forbidding city-wide anti-camping

ordinances so long as there are more homeless people than available shelters.

‍

Martin at most only forbids a city-wide ordinance. Whatever the merits of LA’s more limited anticamping ordinance, since it only bans camping in certain areas of the city, it would appear to not

violate Martin. The author of the majority opinion (Judge Berzon) in discussing the opinion states:

“the opinion holds only that municipal ordinances that criminalize sleeping, sitting, or lying in all

public spaces, when no alternative sleeping space is available, violate the Eight Amendment.”

‍

Much more importantly, there is a difference between the first and second sentences in the

underlined quotation that creates a significant uncertainty about what the case actually held.

The difference arises because a significant number of persons experiencing homelessness turn

down offers of shelter. The first sentence in the quotation indicates that citywide anti-camping

ordinances are illegal unless the number of available beds equals the homeless count. The

second sentence indicates an anti-camping ordinance could be applied if persons experiencing

homelessness turned down an offer of shelter, even if the number of available beds was less than

the total homeless population. This second reading of the case appears confirmed by a footnote

that says, “Naturally, our holding does not cover individuals who do have access to adequate

temporary shelter, whether because they have the means to pay for it or because it is realistically

available to them for free, but who choose not to use it.”

‍

Obviously, the merits of any anti-camping ordinance are different from understanding what

Martin held. But, since Martin is routinely cited in debates concerning homelessness, it is equally

important that persons have a clear understanding of what was decided.

‍

In September 2022 the 9th Circuit decided Johnson v. City of Grants Pass. In addition to reaffirming

the principles in the Martin case, the 9th Circuit held that, in situations where the Martin holding

applies, it is also unconstitutional to have a complete prohibition on a person’s making use of

bedding, sleeping bags, or other material in order to facilitate sleep

‍

Even though the property is within Los Angeles boundaries, Los Angeles has no authority toregulate sleeping (by “sleeping” we also refer to erecting tents, storing personal property, etc.) onfreeways, freeway on ramps and off ramps, embankments, and similar properties. Caltrans ownsthese properties. It is our understanding that Caltrans has legal authority to completely prohibitsleeping on its properties.

Los Angeles Municipal Code 41.18 (LAMC 41.18) is the ordinance regulating the right to sleep,

including having a tent, on the sidewalk. (When we refer to sleeping, we will be referring also to

having tents and other personal property). Its current form was passed by the City Council in

August 2022.

‍

Subject to limited exceptions, persons are allowed to erect tents and sleep on the sidewalks. There

are both (1) certain general exceptions to this right to sleep on the sidewalks plus (2) an exception

for designated areas that requires City Council action.

‍

The below link is provided by Los Angeles and is intended to show the areas subject to 41.18 because

they are schools/daycare centers or “designated areas,” as described in the next two sections.

‍

https://www.arcgis.com/home/item.html?id=ae6e4de267c245adaa399b1b6154071f

The exceptions are:

‍

• The sidewalks must allow passage in accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act. The ADA requires a passable area of at least three feet.
• Sleeping cannot be within 10 feet of a driveway or loading dock, five feet of any building entrance or exit, or two feet of any fire department connection.
• Sleeping cannot interfere with activities for which the City has issued a permit.
• There is no sleeping within 500 feet of a school or day care center (this prohibition became effective in September 2022).

‍

As many have observed throughout the Hollywood area, there appears to be no consistent effort

by Los Angeles to enforce these exceptions. In particular, there are many places throughout

Hollywood where encampments block ADA required passage.

When one reads about Los Angeles “clearing” an encampment, this is often a reference to the City

Council taking the actions described in 41.18 to designate an area as a “no sleeping” area. There

are complex procedures involved in making a designation under 41.18, which are beyond the scope

of these FAQs. The key thing is to understand the limited types of areas that can be designated as

“no sleeping” areas:

‍

• Any area within an area of up to 500 feet from a property designated as a sensitive use, which is limited to a public park or public library (prior to the 2022 revisions, schools and day care centers had to be designated; they are now automatically treated as a sensitive use)
• Any area within an area of up to 500 feet from a designated overpass, underpass, freeway ramp, tunnel, bridge, and similar structures where the City Council determines that the public health, safety, or welfare is served by the designation
• Any area within an area of up to 1000 feet from a facility opened after 2017 that provides homeless shelter or is a homeless services navigation center
• Any area where sleeping has been designated a particular and ongoing threat to public health and safety

‍

The process of designating an area is complex and, depending on the area, can be controversial.

In practice, it starts with the City Councilperson for the area in question. For Hollywood, the

Councilperson is Hugo Soto-Martinez (as of December 12, 2022).

LAMC 56.11 contains complex rules with respect to the property that can be stored on sidewalks

by persons experiencing homelessness (or anyone else). As is apparent to anyone walking through

Hollywood, these rules are not being generally enforced for a variety of reasons. This section

describes in a simplified fashion some of the basic rules and other sections describe the factors

that have modified them. The rules currently in effect are significantly different than the rules that

applied before City Council action in August 2022.

‍

The basic rules provide:

‍

• No unattended personal property can be stored on the sidewalks
• No attended “Excess Personal Property” can be stored on the sidewalks. Excess Personal Property is defined as personal property in excess of what could fit in a 60-gallon container (roughly 24” by 24” by 32”). Importantly, the City’s ability to enforce this rule is subject to a notice and impoundment procedure. Generally, there must be pre-removal notice, the property can be impounded 24 hours after the notice, and the property owner has 90 days to pick up the property before it is destroyed.
• Generally, tents must come down from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m.

‍

In addition to the basic rules, in some cases personal property may be removed without notice,

including where:

‍

• The personal property is placed on a sidewalk in a way that violates the requirement under the American with Disabilities Act that generally requires at least three feet be allowed for passage;
• The personal property is placed within 10 feet of a driveway or loading dock, five feet of any building entrance or exit, or two feet of any fire department connection; or
• The personal property is a health or safety hazard.

As part of the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the City Council suspended the part of 56.11

requiring tents to come down during the day during the City’s Emergency Declaration. By its terms,

this suspension will end once the Emergency Declaration ends.

‍

As of September 1, 2022, Los Angeles does not appear to be generally enforcing the provisions of

56.11 allowing removal of Excess Personal Property, with the exception that enforcement appears

to be occurring in areas designated as no-sleeping areas under 48.11 and (in at least some cases)

in areas designated for a Care+ cleanup. At least one factor behind non-enforcement is a lack of

resources to enforce this provision.

‍

It should be noted that, since Excess Personal Property includes all property in excess of that

which would fit in a 60-gallon container, many of the larger housing structures constructed by

persons experiencing homelessness are clearly in violation of 56.11 and can be impounded with

24-hours’ notice if the ordinance were being enforced.

‍

As a result, notwithstanding the legal rules, as of September 1, 2022, at least in Hollywood,

the practical reality appears to be that a person experiencing homelessness, assuming he or

she is located in an area where sleeping is permissible, may generally accumulate Excess

Personal Property.

The Los Angeles Municipal Code provides that urinating or defecating in public is illegal. Our

understanding is that, as of December 1, 2022, no actions are being taken against individuals who

violate this ordinance.

There are two sources for keeping sidewalks clean in Hollywood—the LA Sanitation and

Environment Department (LASAN) and, if the sidewalk in question is within the boundaries

of one of the three Hollywood business improvement districts (BIDs), one of the BIDs. BIDs

are assessment districts, voluntarily formed by property owners and funded through annual

assessments levied on private property. They perform various tasks to maintain and beautify their

service area. The three BIDs for Hollywood are (the hyperlink next to their names links to a map of

their geographic area):

‍

1. The Hollywood Partnership (https://hollywoodpartnership.com/hollywood-bid)
2. The Hollywood Media District (https://mediadistrict.org/map)
3. The East Hollywood BID (https://www.ehbid.org/distric-map)

‍

It makes sense to start by understanding how the BIDs work since they are dedicated to their

service area while the LASAN resources are citywide. We will use The Hollywood Partnership

(THP) as an example, which is the BID that covers the core part of downtown Hollywood. Its daily

activities include power washing sidewalks and street sweeping services, collection of debris, and

removing graffiti.

‍

A key point to understand about the THP is that it does not remove property belonging to persons

experiencing homelessness without their consent. “Belonging to” is a nebulous concept. If the

property is not next to an encampment and no one has interacted with it for a while, THP considers

it abandoned. If the property is next to an encampment, even if looks like trash, empty boxes,

food containers, etc. THP will not remove it without the consent of the persons experiencing

homelessness. This does not reflect the fact that the person experiencing homelessness has

unlimited rights to keep as much property on the sidewalks as desired, even including hazardous

material. Rather the current position of the THP is that any involuntary removal of property is

to be undertaken by LASAN. By way of example, if THP saw discarded hypodermic needles

(hazardous material) at a campsite, it would attempt to get the consent of the person experiencing

homelessness to removal of the material, but, if the person failed to consent, THP would contact a

representative of Council District 13, who would then advise the LASAN assigned team for the area

for help in removing the material.

‍

The next level of cleanup is provided by the LASAN. Before 2020, tents and similar structures had

to be taken down during the day and persons could not loiter in permanent locations, so much less

trash accumulated. The rise of permanent encampments has coincided with a significant rise of

trash on the streets. At the end of 2019 LASAN established two types of operations designed to

remove trash, entitled CARE and CARE+.

‍

As of October 1, 2022, there is one CARE team for Council District 13 (the district in which

Hollywood is located), which services the district twice per week. Its approach to cleaning is the

same as THP—removal of abandoned objects and no removal of unabandoned objects (even if

health or safety hazards) without the consent of the person experiencing homelessness.

‍

As of October 1, 2022, there is one CARE+ unit assigned to Council District 13, which services

the district four days a week (while prior Councilmember O’Farrell had secured funding for an

additional CARE+ team, LASAN has so far not completed the process of hiring additional staff

to establish a second team). Unlike THP and CARE teams, the CARE+ teams have the authority

to require the person experiencing homelessness to relocate all of his or her property while the

sidewalk underneath is being power washed. In order for a CARE+ cleaning to take place at an

encampment, the area is first posted with signage in anticipation of the service date, usually

between 24 and 72 hours before the scheduled service date. Prior to the scheduled service date,

outreach teams also conduct outreach to the site to inform persons experiencing homelessness

about the scheduled cleaning and that they will need to move out of the work area during the

scheduled cleaning. In Council District 13, Urban Alchemy (UA) regularly supplements the LAHSA

outreach efforts and is also present on the day of CARE+ cleanings to support LASAN. LAPD is

often on hand during these comprehensive cleaning, especially when there have been reported

incidents in the past, although LAPD’s role is designed to be secondary.

‍

CARE+ teams provide full comprehensive cleanings including the identification, documentation,

and removal of line-of-sight health and/or safety hazards, the removal of trash, litter, and debris,

and the power washing of public rights-of-way. Should personal property be abandoned in the

course of a CARE+ (or CARE) operation, this personal property will be stored and maintained in

a secure location for a period of 90 days for the rightful owner to retrieve - provided there is not

an immediate threat to public health or safety. If the property is not claimed within 90 days, then

the property may be discarded by the City. The rightful owner of the personal property that was

removed and stored from LASAN’s CARE and/or CARE+ operations may receive information about

and/or make arrangements to retrieve stored personal property by contacting:

‍

Chrysalis (The Bin)

213-806-6355 | 1-844-475-1244

507 Towne Avenue

Los Angeles, CA 90013

Monday through Friday from 8:00am to 5:00pm

Saturday from 8:00am to 1:00pm

‍

It does not appear at the present time that the CARE+ teams are uniformly enforcing the limits

provided in the Municipal Code on how much property a person experiencing homelessness

can accumulate on the sidewalk, only requiring that the property be removed during the power

washing. Section 56.11 generally provides that “Excess Personal Property” cannot be stored on the

sidewalks. Excess Personal Property is defined as personal property in excess of what could fit in a

60-gallon container (roughly 24” by 24” by 32”).

‍

There are special cleaning rules for Hollywood’s two Special Enforcement Cleaning Zones, zones

which were established around the Lodi and Schrader interim shelters described below. These

sites come with regular CARE cleanings and once a week CARE+ cleaning, which are provided by

different teams than the teams that generally provide cleaning to Hollywood.

An appropriate starting point is to describe the Hollywood housing market. A June 2022 review

of apartment listings in Hollywood and East Hollywood suggests that it is difficult to find an

apartment under $1400, even looking at a small studio apartment. As of July 1, the minimum wage

in Los Angeles will be $16.04. Assuming someone works 40 hours a week, 50 weeks a year, this

amounts to a monthly income of $2674, so housing is about 52% of wages for a minimum wage

worker. A common statistic is that housing costs should be 30% of income (while this statistic

is commonly cited, it does not appear that there is uniform agreement as to the validity of this

benchmark). This 30% is supposed to not only cover rent but other housing costs, such as utilities.

But even assuming the real number is significantly higher, say 40%, it’s clear that someone making

minimum wage can’t afford to live in Hollywood since spending 40% on housing would still only

mean one could pay $1070 in monthly rent (assuming utilities were included).

‍

In addition to the monthly costs, there are the upfront fees necessary to move in. The renter

will be charged a security deposit, plus typically first and last month’s rent. So, renting a

$1400-a-month apartment, would require an upfront payment of $4200 if the security deposit

equaled one month’s rent.

‍

Some persons experiencing homelessness work (in particular, those living in their vehicles) and

some who don’t work may reenter the workforce and from the outset get paid more than minimum

wage. But the implication of this quick math reinforces a proposition that, while it may be obvious,

bears restating—for most persons experiencing homelessness, it is unrealistic to think there is

anything today resembling an immediate path to a position of enough financial stability to enable

them to rent in Hollywood without some form of public or private assistance.

‍

Before describing the current process for improving the situation for persons experiencing

homelessness, it makes sense to enumerate the different kinds of alternative shelters.

‍

Alternatives to living on the street/in cars can be broken into four categories:

‍

• Time Limited Subsidies (previously known as “Rapid Rehousing”)
• Safe Camping and Safe Parking
• Interim Housing
• Options after Interim Housing

There are many paths from the street to secure housing. The flow chart below illustrates some of

the most common paths to a favorable outcome. Later sections of the FAQs further describe these

different alternatives.

‍

The core concept of Time Limited Subsidies is to provide the necessary financial support so that a

person experiencing homelessness can immediately move into an apartment. The apartment is not

a specially-built structure designed to serve persons experiencing homelessness. Rather it is a unit

in a generally available apartment.

‍

While obvious, it is worth restating the reasons why help from a homeless service agency is a

crucial ingredient to Time Limited Subsidies. Initial move in fees are high, $4200 in the example

above. The homeless service agency may advance all or part of these fees, with no expectation of

repayment from the person experiencing homelessness (in many cases repayment is from the Los

Angeles Housing Services Authority).

‍

In addition, there is often a need for continued support, while the person experiencing

homelessness gets back on his or her feet. In some cases, support with respect to rental

obligations may last up to two years.

‍

Apartment owners are not required to rent to persons with bad credit scores, negative references

from previous landlords, past behavior problems, such as consistently paying rent late, or other

factors that make them a bad risk. It is typical that most persons experiencing homelessness will

have one or more of these factors, so a core component of Time Limited Subsidies is developing

an inventory of apartments where the owner is willing to participate in the program in light of the

homeless service agency’s financial support.

‍

As the above description indicates, most persons experiencing homelessness will not be good

candidates for immediate entry into a Time Limited Subsidies program, since the program is

designed to be temporary, with the expectation that in a relatively short period of time the person

experiencing homelessness will achieve the financial stability to continue paying rent without

assistance. A more common path is for a person experiencing homelessness to first move into

some form of Interim Housing and then, hopefully, be placed into a Rapid Rehousing program.

‍

There are many apartments in Hollywood where persons experiencing homelessness have moved

in through Time Limited Subsidies.

‍

One variation on Time Limited Subsidies is Master Leasing, where a homeless service agency

is the actual lessee of the housing unit and the agency in turn rents the apartment to the person

experiencing homelessness. This type of arrangement can make it easier to navigate around some

of the factors that might cause a traditional landlord to be hesitant to lease to that person.

‍

SAFE CAMPING

‍

Currently there are no Safe Camping sites in Hollywood. Since they have existed in the

past and are potentially a necessary component of any immediate improvement in the

homelessness situation in Hollywood, it is important to describe them.

‍

Safe Camping involves creating specific spaces for persons experiencing homelessness to

camp, with or without tents. Safe Camping is a vast improvement over disorganized sleeping

on the streets for many reasons:

‍

• The safe camping site is organized with a perimeter wall and some form of controlled ingress and egress.
• The inside of the site has designated areas where the camper may pitch his or her tent, for example, approximately 4’ by 6’ rectangles with space between other rectangles
• Personnel provides safety protection by patrolling the campsite. For example, Urban Alchemy has provided safety services for some campsites.
• There are on-premises toilet/shower facilities.
• Meals are delivered to the sites.
• Case management services are provided on site. The case manager plays an important role in enabling the person experiencing homelessness to function successfully. He or she is more of a navigator than the provider of specific mental health/substance abuse or other services. For example, some of the services provided by the case manager might include:

‍

1. helping the person experiencing homelessness accumulate some of the necessary documentation to receive services (driver’s license or some other form of identification);
2. helping them apply for or to continue subsidies, etc.;
3. arranging transportation for the person experiencing homelessness for medical and other appointments;
4. helping the person experiencing homelessness with dietary needs, such as choosing appropriate meals;
5. and helping the person experiencing homelessness schedule meaningful social and related activities.

‍

There are restrictions on using the camping site. While rules may vary from site to site,

we believe the following description is generally accurate (the description is based on the

rules applicable to a Safe Parking site in the Hollywood area—Safe Parking is described in

the next FAQ):

‍

• No weapons are allowed inside.
• No alcohol or drugs are permitted on the premises and the regulations provide that residents may be evicted for being under the influence of alcohol or drugs (the operative word is “may”; different facilities are managed differently with respect to this rule, some enforcing this rule more in situations where there is a concern that intoxication may lead to other unacceptable behavior).
• Acts of violence/aggressive behavior/threats/related activities are not tolerated.

‍

Also, there are curfew rules, such as no entry after 11 p.m. or exit before 7 a.m. It is further

provided that a participant cannot exit without prior approval from a supervisor.

‍

These rules (we will call them the “General Rules”) and, in particular, the curfew rules and the

rules against alcohol and drug use, may cause a person experiencing homelessness to refuse

an offer of Safe Camping.

‍

Generally, one is not entitled to stay indefinitely at a Safe Camping site but needs to reapply

to stay after 90 days. Applications for renewal are likely to be accepted, particularly if there is

no better alternative available.

‍

There is no one entity in charge of Safe Camping sites. They have tended to occur on sort of

a “pop-up” basis, i.e., put together at a particular location so long as a site and operational

funds are available. In the past, for example, CD 13 funded a Safe Camping site at a

Hollywood location, which site has now been closed.

‍

SAFE PARKING

‍

Some of the persons experiencing homelessness are living out of their motor vehicles

(in Hollywood the number is small). Safe Parking facilities provide services that parallel

those available at Safe Camping sites with the exception that, instead of a tent, the person

experiencing homelessness parks his or her vehicle at a designated location inside the Safe

Parking facility.

‍

Depending on the particular Safe Parking site, vehicles must exit during the day. This might

be necessary, for example, if the site were used during the day for other parking purposes.

‍

The nearest Safe Parking location to Hollywood is at Glassell Park, near the intersection of

the 5 and 2 freeways.

‍

Safe Parking LA is a nonprofit organization running most of the Safe Parking sites in LA.

SafeparkingLA.org contains a description of the organization and additional information

about their sites.

‍

Safe Parking LA states: “There is no limit set on enrollment as long as participants are

actively pursuing their next steps.” They also state: “Any participant who misses three

consecutive nights without notice of their absence and does not reappear for the fourth night

can be exited from the program.”

Interim Housing can be broadly divided into two categories:

‍

• “Congregate Interim Housing” ― facilities that are more like dormitories
• “Noncongregate Interim Housing” ― facilities that provide more privacy,s uch as a private room or a room limited to two occupants

‍

The General Rules apply to Interim Housing. With respect to length of stay, participants are

required to seek permission to stay after 90 days, which is often granted if it is shown that there

are no alternatives as beneficial to the persons experiencing homelessness.

‍

1) CONGREGATE INTERIM HOUSING

‍

These facilities are probably what most people think of when they think about persons

experiencing homelessness who are in shelters. There are numerous congregate facilities in

Hollywood (by Hollywood we are referring to the area bounded on the west by La Brea, the north by

Franklin, the east by Western, and the south by Melrose). Some of them are:

‍

• Aviva Family and Child Services | Women & Children | https://aviva.org
• Covenant House of California | Youth Only | https://covenanthousecalifornia.org
• Gardner Street Women’s Bridge Housing Center | Women Only https://www.laconservancy.org/locations/gardner-street-womens-bridge-housing-center

• Los Angeles Youth Network | Youth Only | https://www.youthemergingstronger.org
• Lodi Place Bridge Housing | Women Only https://la.curbed.com/2018/10/30/18040220/hollywood-homeless-shelter-a-bridge-home

• Los Angeles LGBT Center | Youth Focused https://lalgbtcenter.org/social-service-and-housing

• Salvation Army | Youth & Adult Males https://thewayin.salvationarmy.org/the_way_in_us_west/about-us

• Schrader Bridge Center | Men & Women https://www.weingart.org/housing-solutions https://la.curbed.com/2018/10/30/18040220/hollywood-homeless-shelter-a-bridge-home

‍

The layout of these facilities varies, but can generally be described as modified dormitory style.

There are individual beds in cubicle style facilities, with some degree of limited privacy, the ability

to store a limited amount of articles, and the ability to safely lock up a limited number of items.

‍

Because of COVID restrictions, many of the facilities are not operating at full capacity, i.e., for

example a facility that could accommodate 100 persons might limit capacity to 80 persons.

‍

2) NONCONGREGATE INTERIM HOUSING

‍

While there is currently no Noncongregate Interim Housing in Hollywood (the Gardner Street

Women’s Bridge Housing Center is two to a room, so it’s closer to Noncongregate Interim Housing),

there are several such facilities throughout LA, so many hope that Noncongregate Interim Housing

will be part of the homelessness solution in Hollywood.

‍

The core concept of Noncongregate Interim Housing is to assemble multiple small living spaces

in a common facility that may contain communal kitchen facilities, toilet/shower facilities,

facilities for case management services and related facilities. Typically, part of the structure

is prefabricated. These small living spaces can be much cheaper to build than conventional

apartments. For example, as part of Project Homekey (which will be described below), the Housing

Authority of the City of Los Angeles (HACLA) purchased many apartments and hotels at an

average cost per unit of around $400,000. Typically, the cost of installing Tiny Home Shelters as

Noncongregate Interim Housing is well below $100,000.

‍

Noncongregate Interim Housing can come in many varieties, but to illustrate the concept in

a little more detail, the next two sections will describe Tiny Home Shelters and the use of

shipping containers.

‍

A) TINY HOME SHELTERS

‍

Persons experiencing homelessness are housed in small, prefabricated homes, generally

64 sq. ft. in size, and containing heat, air-conditioning, windows, and a small desk and a

front door. The closest location to Hollywood is on Chandler Blvd., close to where Chandler

Blvd meets the Hollywood Freeway.

‍

One very important distinction is that Tiny Home Shelters are considered “interim housing.”

Persons are expected to transition from Tiny Home Shelters to another form of housing

within generally three to six months.

‍

Hope of the Valley currently operates the six Tiny Home Shelters in the Fernando Valley.

https://www.hopeofthevalley.org/tinyhomes

‍

Some COVID protocols are still in place, so these facilities are not permitting all their

beds to be occupied. In particular, some of the units are designed to house two persons,

but are currently housing only one person, so the easing of the COVID protocols will

increase capacity.

‍

There are waiting lists for all the Tiny Home Shelters in the San Fernando Valley.

‍

B) SHIPPING CONTAINERS

‍

Shipping containers were modified and assembled into three-story structures at the Hilda L.

Solis Care First Village in downtown Los Angeles. Each shipping container was converted

into a two-person structure of 135 square feet, including a bed, microwave, mini-fridge,

flat screen and private bathroom. Consistent with the larger size and amenities, the cost

appears significantly higher than Tiny Home Shelters, somewhere in the $200,000 to

$300,000 range, based on news reports.

‍

C) PROJECT ROOMKEY

‍

While Project Roomkey is in the process of being phased out, it should be mentioned as a

form of Noncongregate Interim Housing since it has played a very important in reducing

homelessness during the COVID pandemic. Over 9000 persons took part in Project

Roomkey in Los Angeles County.

‍

Project Roomkey is a collaborative effort of the federal government, California, LA County,

and LAHSA to provide hotel and motel rooms to persons experiencing homelessness

at most risk from COVID. Participants have to be over 65, have an underlying medical

condition, or be medically compromised to be eligible. Reflecting the focus of Project

Roomkey to prevent the spread of COVID, the Project Roomkey rules are even more

restrictive than the General Rules, for example, no guests are allowed on site and clients

are not allowed to congregate in common areas.

‍

In light of its particular application to persons most vulnerable to COVID-19, Project

Roomkey placements did not have a time limit.

‍

This section lists the housing paths that may be taken by a person experiencing homelessness

exiting Interim Housing. Interim Housing is not intended as a permanent solution. At some point in

time a person experiencing homelessness is expected to exit Interim Housing although, depending

on the other available options, a person experiencing homelessness may be allowed to stay

indefinitely in Interim Housing. The available paths may be grouped as follows:

‍

1) RETURNING TO LIVING WITH RELATIVES/FRIENDS, ETC., LIVING ON THE STREETS, OR SAFE CAMPING OR SAFE PARKING

‍

While the paths listed in the heading of this subsection are undesirable (depending on its

permanency, living with friends or relatives may be ok), the reality is that a very significant

percentage of persons experiencing homelessness in Interim Housing end up in one of

these situations.

‍

2) TIME LIMITED SUBSIDIES

‍

The mechanics of Time Limited Subsidies have already been described.

‍

3) REENTERING THE HOUSING MARKETWITHOUT THE NEED FOR SOME TYPE OF SUBSIDY

‍

While this is obviously a desirable outcome, only a limited number of persons experiencing

homelessness move directly from Interim Housing to permanent housing without some

form of subsidy. The situations where this might occur could involve (1) financial assistance

from friends or relatives that allows transition to normal housing or (2) situations where the

homelessness was occasioned by a mental health, physical health, or substance use disorder

issue that the person experiencing homelessness has been able to overcome.

‍

4) PERMANENT BELOW-MARKET HOUSINGFOR PERSONS NOT SUBJECT TO DISABILITY

‍

As will be seen in in the next section (5), Permanent Supportive Housing (PSH) is only

available to persons with a permanent or long-lasting disability. There is an extremely

limited supply of below-market housing available in Los Angeles for a person experiencing

homelessness who is not disabled but earns significantly below the median level of income.

So, while this option should be listed as a possible outcome, it is usually not available for persons experiencing homelessness who don’t have a disability. There are various types of

below-market housing available in Los Angeles:

‍

• Federal Section 8 housing vouchers. There is a long waiting list to get these vouchers, which are used to pay a portion of the market rate rent otherwise due at an apartment.
• Public Housing. As the name applies, in this case the apartment units are owned by a nonprofit or public entity that rents them out to low-income occupants at below-market rental levels. Some public housing is limited to specific types of renters, for example, HUD provides section 202 housing for persons over age 62.
• Affordable apartments units in apartment buildings that otherwise have market rate rentals. Los Angeles developers can sometimes save money by building taller and denser buildings under the city’s two inclusionary housing programs — “Transit Oriented Communities” and “density bonus” — if they agree to reserve some of their units for people who earn less than certain stipulated amounts, for example, in 2022 between $24,850 and $67,200 a year (for a single person household).

Persons experiencing homelessness do not have any priority with respect to below-market

housing in these situations.

‍

5) PERMANENT SUPPORTIVE HOUSING

‍

References to PSH sometimes suggest that permanent supportive housing is the long-term

solution to homelessness. While it is a critical component of any solution, it can be only

a partial solution since it is only available to persons experiencing homelessness with a

disability. Nevertheless, since it is believed that a significant percentage of the persons

experiencing homelessness in Hollywood would qualify for permanent supportive housing, it

plays an important role. There is a lengthy waiting list for any future units that may become

available and persons with a higher degree of vulnerability are supposed to get higher

preference on the list. (Although living in Hollywood does not necessarily mean that the

housing placement will be in Hollywood). The General Rules apply.

‍

Federal rules define a “homeless individual with a disability” to include persons experiencing

homelessness with a disability that is:

‍

• Expected to be long-continuing or of indefinite duration,
• Substantially impedes the individual’s ability to live independently,
• Could be improved by the provision of more suitable housing provisions,
• A physical, mental, or emotional impairment, including an impairment caused by alcohol or drug abuse, post-traumatic stress disorder, or brain injury.

‍

In addition, “disability” includes “developmental disabilities” and AIDS and certain

related conditions.

‍

As may be seen from the definition, the disability in question must be both (1) long

continuing or of indefinite duration and (2) substantially impede the individual’s ability to live

independently. Obviously, lack of financial resources would not qualify. Nor is it expected that

all substance use disorders would qualify, since at least some persons are expected to be

able to overcome this issue. It is our understanding that the most common form of disability

is some form of serious mental illness, though the definition obviously would include

disabling physical handicaps, such as forms of advanced diabetes, end stage renal disease,

etc. It will not include disabling conditions that require nursing assistance and similar types

of intervention.

‍

Permanent supportive housing can either consist of dedicated housing or the placement

of the disabled person in an apartment unit that is more generally available. In either case,

the apartment units are generally constructed the same as typical apartment units, with

exceptions in the case of apartment units intended for persons with a particular physical

disability (for example, hearing or vision disabilities). While permanent supportive housing is

subsidized, it is generally expected that recipients pay some portion of their income toward

rent, even if that income is only LA County general relief funds (around $220 a month

in 2022).

‍

Consistent with the need for supportive services, the person experiencing homelessness has

a continuing case manager to assist him or her going forward. Case management services

are typically available on site in the case of dedicated facilities. The case manager plays an

important role in enabling the person experiencing homelessness to function successfully.

He or she is more of a navigator than the provider of specific mental health/substance abuse

or other services. Some of the services provided by the case manager might include:

‍

• helping the person experiencing homelessness fulfill rent obligations by reminding them to pay, helping them apply to continue subsidies, etc.;
• arranging transportation for the person experiencing homelessness for medical and other appointments;
• helping the person experiencing homelessness maintain the housing in an acceptable condition (persons experiencing homelessness may have come recently from the streets, so the case manager can be very important in enabling them to comply with the cleanliness rules of the project);
• helping the person experiencing homelessness with dietary needs, such as choosing appropriate meals;
• and helping the person experiencing homelessness schedule meaningful social and related activities.

‍

A typical case manager load might be around 20 clients.

‍

It should be noted that, even in the case of dedicated housing, not all units are limited

to persons experiencing homelessness with a disability. The diversity of populations is

indicated by the different descriptions found with respect to three permanent supportive

housing facilities:

‍

• One site says 38 units are set aside for persons experiencing homelessness and/or are living with a qualifying disability. Ten units are set aside for individuals who earn 60% or below average median income.
• Another site says its units are for individuals who are persons experiencing homelessness or at-risk of homelessness, and to homeless individuals and families in which at least one adult has a disability.
• A third site says it provides affordable and permanent supportive apartments.

‍

6) ADULT RESIDENTIAL FACILITIES

‍

Another form of housing available for people who are challenged with a serious mental

illness, and perhaps would find it difficult to live in the quasi-independence associated

with Permanent Supportive Housing, would be found in an Adult Residential Facility (ARF),

more often referred to as a “board and care” home. The board and care home is generally a

privately-operated residential facility ranging from five or six beds to a larger building with

>100 beds. People live two to a room and share a bathroom and common areas.

‍

ARF’s are licensed by the state and are defined as: “non–medical facilities that provide room,

meals, housekeeping, supervision, storage and distribution of medication, and personal care

assistance with basic activities like hygiene, dressing, eating, bathing, and transferring. This level of care and supervision is for people who are unable to live by themselves but who do not need 24-hour nursing care.”

‍

Board and care homes provide a critical source of housing for people leaving psychiatric

hospitals or locked facilities, placed under conservatorship, or re-entering the community

after incarcerations. Rarely does someone enter the board and care environment directly from

the street, though most people living in board and cares have experienced homelessness in

their past.

‍

The state, county and city have become quite aware of the growing shortage of board and

care beds in the community, owing to the funding model that is tied to residents paying

rent from their social security benefits income. The city of Los Angeles released a report

in February 2022 indicating that the city of has a total of 180 facilities providing 6,717

beds. Between January 2020 and February 2021, the city lost 369 board and care beds.

The situation throughout the county is even more significant. Some would suggest that the

continuing loss of these types of beds for people with a serious mental illness is contributing

to the increase in persons experiencing homelessness struggling even more with their

mental illness.

‍

In greater Hollywood it is estimated that there are approximately 280 people living in board

and care homes.

‍

7) PROJECT HOMEKEY

‍

Because Project Homekey has an important role to play in providing PSH shelter, it warrants

description under this heading. Project Homekey takes funds provided by the State of

California to purchase hotels and apartment buildings, which are then used for both interim

and permanent supportive housing for persons experiencing homelessness.

‍

Project Homekey is a major source of funds for persons experiencing homelessness housing.

For example, in January 2021 the Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles voted to spend

around $500 million of state and local funds under Project Homekey to buy 16 different

properties totaling 1,276 residential units, including one site in the Hollywood area.

The provision of services by LAHSA is generally organized around the eight Service Planning Areas

(“SPAs”) that LA County is divided into. SPA 4 is the area that includes Hollywood. SPA 4 is called

“Metro LA” and covers the areas in LA County with the greatest proportion of persons experiencing

homelessness—Boyle Heights, Central City, Downtown LA, Echo Park, El Sereno, Hollywood, MidCity Wilshire, Monterey Hills, Mount Washington, Silverlake, West Hollywood, and Westlake.

There are several ways LAHSA can become aware of a person experiencing homelessness.

‍

Case management teams that are out in the field can become aware of persons experiencing

homelessness through direct observation. Alternatively, organizations that deal with persons

experiencing homelessness, such as The Hollywood Partnership, can directly contact LAHSA to

determine if they are aware of a particular person experiencing homelessness.

‍

There is a website portal available to the public, which allows someone to bring a person

experiencing homelessness to the attention of LAHSA: LA-HOP, “HOP” standing for “homeless

outreach portal.” (https://www.lahsa.org/portal/apps/la-hop) Anyone can go on the portal, identify a

person experiencing homelessness (describe the person, his or her circumstances, location, etc.),

and a request will be sent to LAHSA, which will result in an outreach team being sent to interact

with the individual in question.

‍

Another method of bringing persons experiencing homelessness who need immediate assistance

into the system is through the “Crisis and Incident Response through Community-Led Engagement”

(CIRCLE) pilot program. CIRCLE can be reached by calling 911 and indicating that there is a

person experiencing homelessness who needs intermediate assistance, but who does not appear

dangerous. This should cause the call to be assigned to the staff of Urban Alchemy, which is

currently the contracted vendor for CIRCLE (CIRCLE is a project of the Mayor’s office, which has

been set up as a pilot project in Venice and Hollywood). Urban Alchemy is a nonprofit organization

that employs people with lived experience (i.e., formerly homeless or coming out of incarceration)

and, through its focus on working with encampments and interim programs, has a perspective

that is likelier to lead to a successful interaction vs. a police response. Unfortunately, there are

sometimes lengthy delays in getting the necessary assistance by calling 911.

‍

An alternative approach to getting the CIRCLE team involved is to call the LAPD central dispatch

system in downtown LA at their headquarters. Hollywood does not have its own dispatch system,

so calling them may likely result in your being transferred to the downtown system anyway. There

are some reports that, if you directly call the non-emergency line (1877-ASK-LAPD) and ask the

Dispatcher to send the Project Circle team to address the situation, you will receive a faster

response than calling 911 directly. In order to achieve this speedier response, it is helpful to

request Project Circle by name.

There is an outreach coordinator for the portion of SPA 4 containing Hollywood (this portion is about

half the size of SPA 4). When a request comes through LA-HOP, the coordinator contacts one of the

team leaders for the Hollywood area, who then assembles a Homeless Engagement Team (HET)

consisting of two persons, one of whom is the case manager. Assembling an outreach team can

take several days, if not longer. There are about 60 outreach teams for SPA 4. Each case manager is

responsible for approximately 20-25 cases (a case is opened once the interaction has gotten further

than initial acquaintance and some level of continuing engagement has been established).

‍

An outreach team will generally go out in the field within 48 hours to investigate the situation,

but more quickly if the situation involves a serious mental illness or a medical emergency.

They will have food, water, and other supplies intended to facilitate engagement. While the end

goal is housing, the first step is to develop a relationship of trust with the person experiencing

homelessness. The HET will attempt to determine the level of need of the person experiencing

homelessness, any particular physical or mental health challenges, special needs, etc. This

evaluation helps develop a profile to determine the most the appropriate resources. Even if a

person is not immediately interested in housing, the team will continue to interact with the person

with the hope that the situation will change.

‍

A key engagement goal is entering the person experiencing homelessness into HMIS, the web-based

system that allows providers to access information about the person experiencing homelessness,

read case notes, etc. (As noted earlier, there are limitations with respect to which providers have

access due to privacy concerns). Not every engagement results in the person being entered into

HMIS. For example, if the person will only accept food or water and won’t give any identifying

information, it’s not useful to create an HMIS entry since the person hasn’t shown a willingness to

engage in a manner likely to allow the team to be of housing assistance. Of course, the objective is to

engage in repeated contacts with the person in an effort to develop the relationship.

‍

It is desirable to get a person experiencing homelessness into the HMIS system as soon as

possible. Priorities for housing can take into account the amount of time an individual has been

considered homeless, so entering the person into HMIS can be a critical first step.

‍

If the person experiencing homelessness is receptive to services, the case manager will continue

to engage with them. As part of that continued engagement, the case manager will, if possible,

assess the acuity level and needs of the person experiencing homelessness. Currently, this

process uses a standardized assessment tool known as VI-SPDAT (Vulnerability Index-Service

Prioritization Decision Assessment Tool). This assessment is particularly relevant to determining a

person’s eligibility for PSH and/or Board and Care.

‍

If the person is receptive to shelter, the case manager will work with him or her to explore the

shelter options described in the prior section. As noted, there is no Safe Camping or Safe Parking

in Hollywood, nor generally any Noncongregate Interim Housing (the only exception being the

Gardner Street Bridge Housing Center). So, as a practical matter, the immediate options in

Hollywood are the following:

‍

• Congregate Interim Housing
• In some cases, family reunification is an option. With verification, teams can send persons experiencing homelessness back home to be with family. If a general street outreach team can’t fund a reunification, it will often connect with another team that has access to funds. Generally, reunification funds are available in cases where it has been determined that there is a verifiable family or friend willing to provide housing.
• Potentially, the person experiencing homelessness might qualify for a Time Limited Subsidy, as described in the prior section

‍

Finally, it is possible that someone might move directly from the street to Permanent Supportive

Housing. Due to the lack of Permanent Supportive Housing, it is not expected that someone would

move immediately from first contact by a HET to Permanent Supportive Housing. Rather, the

person would enter the queue and, hopefully, at some future point enter into Permanent Supportive

Housing, assuming he or she met the relevant criteria.

‍

If a person experiencing homelessness is willing to be referred to Congregate Interim Housing,

there is a LAHSA employee in charge of matching the person to a shelter. That person will look for

a space and then coordinate with the case manager to coordinate intake into the shelter. Once the

person has moved into the shelter, additional services are provided, as described below.

‍

‍

Availability varies from week to week. There is significant turnover among residents of the

Congregate Interim Housing Sites (unfortunately, in many cases this represents persons moving

back onto the streets), so a week of no vacancies may be followed by a week with many vacancies.

‍

Getting into interim housing does not require a complete data workup. It can take as little as 15

minutes, with the main objective being to determine whether someone can take care of themselves

in an interim housing atmosphere, i.e., they can do their own toileting, keep a room clean, etc.

While this section focuses on getting a person experiencing homelessness off the streets,

this is only a portion of the case manager’s focus. For example, many persons experiencing

homelessness need help getting an ID and/or various forms of governmental income and benefits.

The case manager helps navigate the paperwork burden these tasks entail.

‍

More generally, the case manager helps persons experiencing homelessness obtain other relevant

services. If mental health or substance use disorder services are needed and the person is willing

to accept them, the case manager helps explain the relevant options.

‍

It should be noted that case manager assignments change. For example, if a person experiencing

homelessness transitions from the streets to Congregate Interim Housing, he or she will be

assigned to a case manager associated with that housing.

‍

It should be emphasized that the case manager is not a mental health, substance abuse, or medical

professional. The case manager is best thought of as a navigator, attempting to help the persons

experiencing homelessness obtain services, including housing, that will better his or her situation.

A recent report by the Rand Foundation collected data with respect to persons experiencing

homelessness in Hollywood, Venice, and Skid Row. One of its findings was that 41% of the

persons interviewed stated that a factor preventing them from moving into housing was that

they were never contacted to complete the housing intake process. While this statistic is

potentially concerning, it is difficult to assess the significance of this statistic without further

information, for example, to what extent did the person change location in a way hindering

completion of the process.

These are more severe situations and, instead of a two-person team, a larger team will be

assembled (a Multi-Disciplinary Team or “MDT”). These are cases, for example, where the person

experiencing homelessness might have a severe injury (for example, an open wound), be exhibiting

symptoms of a serious mental illness, or be exhibiting symptoms of a serious substance use

disorder (for example, someone passed out with needles around him or her).

‍

A fully staffed MDT will have four members: a mental health clinician, a specialist in substance

use disorders, a peer specialist (an outreach worker with lived experience), and a generalist

case manager. The MDT will focus on immediately stabilizing the situation by bringing in

necessary resources to the extent available. Members of the MDT will continue to work with the

person experiencing homelessness in an effort to provide the services and housing assistance

generally available.

‍

In addition to the MDTs, there are two other types of outreach programs designed to help persons

experiencing homelessness with even more severe mental illnesses or emotional disturbances

than handled by the MDT teams: the Full Service Partnership and the Homeless Outreach & Mobile

Engagement (HOME) program. HOME is generally used for the most severe situations. These

programs are provided through the LA County Department of Mental Health.

‍

CITY OF LOS ANGELES

‍

Police Department: https://www.lapdonline.org/lapd-organization-chart

City Attorney: https://www.lacityattorney.org/homelessness

The Housing Authority of the City of Los Angeles: https://www.hacla.org/en

Los Angeles Sanitation Authority: https://www.lacitysan.org

‍

COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES

‍

Department of Mental Health: https://dmh.lacounty.gov

Department of Public Health: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov

Substance Abuse Prevention and Control: http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/sapc

Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority: https://www.lahsa.org

‍

NEIGHBORHOOD COUNCILS

‍

Central Hollywood Neighborhood Council: https://www.chnc.org

Hollywood United Neighborhood Council: https://hollywoodunitednc.org

‍

BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT DISTRICTS

‍

The Hollywood Partnership: https://hollywoodpartnership.com

Hollywood Media District: http://www.mediadistrict.org

East Hollywood BID: http://ehbid.org

CHILDREN/YOUTH/LGBTQIA+

‍

Assistance League Los Angeles: https://www.assistanceleaguela.org

From preschool to providing school clothes and supplies, to resources for newborns and

foster children and their families, Assistance League of Los Angeles’ members dedicate

themselves to working to make sure that every child has a chance no matter

their circumstances.

‍

My Friend’s Place: https://www.myfriendsplace.org

My Friend’s Place aims to assist and inspire homeless youth to build self-sufficient lives. My

Friend’s Place offers comprehensive services to youth experiencing homelessness between

the ages of 12 and 25, and their children, helping homeless young people move toward

wellness, stability, and self-sufficiency.

‍

Los Angeles LGBT Center: https://lalgbtcenter.org/social-service-and-housing

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a social safety net for the LGBT community where

individuals of all ages can find help, as well as hope and support. From housing homeless

youth to providing affordable housing for seniors—and from helping transgender people find

employment to providing legal support for asylum seekers—no organization serves more

LGBT people than the Center.

‍

Youth Emerging Stronger: https://www.youthemergingstronger.org

YES provides runaway, homeless, and foster youth with safety, stability and housing, along

with the relationships and resources to thrive now and in the future. Their programs focus

on intervention, prevention, and permanency. Programs are tailored for youth ages 12-24.

‍

EMPLOYMENT/JOB TRAINING

‍

Food on Foot: https://www.foodonfoot.org

Food on Foot is a nonprofit dedicated to assisting our unhoused and low-income neighbors

in Los Angeles with nutritious meals, clothing, and a fresh start through life-skills training,

full-time employment, and permanent housing. Food on Foot’s Jobs & Housing program is

designed for high-functioning adults who are experiencing homelessness. Graduates from

this program earn their way off the streets with a full-time job, a fully furnished apartment, a

life-skills education, and a huge boost in confidence.

‍

Hollywood WorkSource Center:

https://www.lapl.org/stable-living/resource-centers/hollywood-worksource-center

The Hollywood WorkSource Center provides free employment services to adults, dislocated

workers, veterans, the homeless and the re-entry population. Services include free job

training, telephone and computer access, literacy skills workshops, employment referrals,

customized job matching, resume and interview skills building, and career guidance.

‍

FOOD

‍

Blessed Sacrament Church: https://blessedsacramenthollywood.org

‍

First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood: https://www.fpch.org/ministries/outreach

The Lord’s Lighthouse serves a few hundred people a week. Every Sunday it begins at

12:00pm with a Bible Study and then follows at 1:00pm with a brief homily as a hot meal is

served. We believe in the fellowship of breaking bread together and sharing the Gospel of

Jesus Christ. Through mutually-supportive friendships, we encourage one another to pursue

housing as well as physical and spiritual wellness.

‍

Food on Foot: https://www.foodonfoot.org

Food on Foot is a nonprofit dedicated to assisting homeless and low-income neighbors in

Los Angeles with nutritious meals, clothing, and a fresh start through a life-skills education,

full-time employment, and permanent housing. Food on Foot distributes nutritious chicken

meals, fresh produce, and clothing to 280+ unhoused and low-income neighbors every

Sunday in Hollywood.

Serving Location: 1625 N. Schrader Blvd., Hollywood, CA 90028

(in the private parking lot of the Los Angeles LGBT Center)

‍

Hollywood Food Coalition: https://hofoco.org

The Hollywood Food Coalition provides a warm, nutritious meal along with access to basic

daily needs, such as clothing, backpacks, sleeping bags, and hygiene items, as well as

assistance with housing placement and referrals for the homelessness community

in Hollywood.

‍

SELAH: https://www.selahnhc.org

The Hollywood Chapter of SELAH is currently engaging with our unhoused neighbors in

central Hollywood every other Sunday. We serve our area as a bridge of communication

between them and other local organizations, service providers, and the City & County of Los

Angeles. We also offer basic document services and material assistance.”

‍

GENERAL

‍

H.O.D.G. (Hang Out Do Good): https://www.hangoutdogood.com

HODG’s mission is to create an inclusive, vibrant community of volunteers who recognize

that everyone practices kindness in a variety of ways. This organization comes together

to provide bag lunches, donate clothing, and communicate with those experiencing

homelessness throughout Los Angeles and Hollywood.

‍

Hollywood 4WRD: https://hollywood4wrd.org

Hollywood 4WRD is a coalition driven to create systemic change to effectively address

homelessness in Hollywood through advocacy, education, service coordination, and

innovation.

‍

Imagine LA: https://www.imaginela.org

Imagine LA works to end the cycle of family poverty and homelessness in Los Angeles.

Imagine LA works to provide relationships and resources to help the entire families thrive for

the long-term. The organization provides financial wellness education and pathways to living

wage job opportunities while mentors give personal attention to everyone’s needs.

‍

The John and Marilyn Wells Family Foundation: https://www.storiesfrontline.org

Stories from the Frontline, funded by The John and Marilyn Wells Family Foundation, works

as a story-telling platform for those who have experienced homelessness and elevates

opportunities for more affordable and supportive housing in all neighborhoods across Los

Angeles County.

‍

The Center in Hollywood: https://thecenterinhollywood.org

The Center works directly with those experiencing homelessness to build a sense of

community, end isolation, and provide a space to flourish for those who are homeless. It is

a trauma-informed center that engenders trust, safety, consistent boundaries, and a place

where individuals can make their own decisions about program participation and housing.

‍

HOUSING/SHELTER FOCUS

‍

AIDS Healthcare Foundation: https://www.housinghumanright.org

‍

The Corporation for Supportive Housing: https://www.csh.org/about-csh/in-the-field/la

CSH works to bring supportive housing to those that need it most in the Los Angeles area.

CSH works with various stakeholders, government organizations, and community partners to

effectively bring more affordable housing opportunities to Los Angeles.

‍

Covenant House: https://covenanthousecalifornia.org

Covenant House California (CHC) is a non-profit youth shelter that provides sanctuary and

support for youth experiencing homelessness, ages 18-24. We believe that no young person

deserves to be homeless; that every young person in California deserves shelter, food,

clothing, education … and most importantly, to be loved. CHC provides a full continuum of

services to meet the physical, emotional, educational, vocational, and spiritual well-being of

young people, in order to provide them with the best chance for success in independence.

Location: 1325 N. Western Avenue.

‍

First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood, Hollywood Winter Refuge:

https://www.fpch.org/ministries/outreach

The Hollywood Winter Refuge Shelter began in 2012. It is an independent shelter which

operates for the first three months of the year. The Refuge invites 25 neighbors who are

struggling with multiple health issues to rest for the full duration which facilitates healing

and connections to future housing placement. Guests are personally invited or come

through agency referrals from LAPD, DMH, My Friend’s Place, and others. The Refuge

partners with local churches such as Ecclesia, Reality LA, Blessed Sacrament, Seventh Day

Adventist Hollywood, and Broken Hearts ministry to provide funding and volunteers.

‍

Hollywood Community Housing Corporation: http://hollywoodhousing.org

Hollywood Community Housing develops affordable homes and safe communities for lowincome families, formerly homeless individuals and households, seniors, and those with

special needs.

‍

Housing Works: http://housingworksca.org

Housing Works provides permanent supportive housing and support services to the most

traumatized, vulnerable, and needy members of our community—homeless individuals,

victims of domestic violence, at-risk youth, veterans, and people dealing with severe

physical or mental illness or substance abuse.

‍

Kaiser Permanente: https://about.kaiserpermanente.org/commitments-and-impact/healthycommunities/improving-community-conditions/housing-security

In 2018, Kaiser Permanente established the $200 million Thriving Communities Fund to take

on housing instability and homelessness, including creating or contributing to the following

funds: Housing for Health Fund; RxHome Fund; Bay’s Future Fund; and Supportive Housing

Fund (high-quality permanent supportive housing for individuals experiencing homelessness

in California, with particular focus on Los Angeles).

‍

Los Angeles LGBT Center: https://lalgbtcenter.org/social-service-and-housing

The Los Angeles LGBT Center is a social safety net for the LGBT community where

individuals of all ages can find help, as well as hope and support. From housing homeless

youth to providing affordable housing for seniors—and from helping transgender people find

employment to providing legal support for asylum seekers—no organization serves more

LGBT people than the Center.

‍

PATH: https://epath.org/regions/greater-los-angeles (operates Lodi Place Bridge Housing)

PATH seeks to end homelessness by building affordable housing and providing supportive

services throughout Los Angeles and California. In Los Angeles they provide a variety of

services for neighbors experiencing homelessness that include employment, outreach,

homelessness prevention, housing navigation, interim housing, rapid rehousing, and

permanent supportive housing.

‍

Safe Parking LA: https://safeparkingla.org

Safe Parking LA provides a night-time program for people who are experiencing homelessness

and sleeping in their vehicles at night, providing a safe and stable place to park their vehicle,

remain compliant with local laws, and have access to restroom facilities. All safe parking

programs are accessible by filling out an application and connecting to services that help

identify pathways into housing.

‍

The Salvation Army Access Center: https://hollywood.salvationarmy.org/hollywood_corps

The Salvation Army Hollywood Access Center works with those experiencing homelessness

or at imminent risk, to help them gain initial access to housing resources, emergency service

referrals, and other supportive services. The Access Center will provide services in a housing

first, low barrier, and harm reduction approach. Services are provided to both male youths and

adult males. With respect to male youths, https://thewayin.salvationarmy.org states:

“The Way In Youth Shelter through the Salvation Army was founded to help children

escape Hollywood street life and provide a home-like environment in which abused and/

or neglected teenagers could live safely as they matured into productive and independent

young adults. The Way In helps by providing food, shelter and counseling in a multi-faceted

program that includes residential housing, and an independent living program.”

‍

San Fernando Valley Rescue Mission: https://sfvrescuemission.org/renewed-hope

The Renewed Hope Men’s Life Recovery Program is a free, ten-month, residential, Christian,

recovery program in Hollywood that provides Biblically based structure and applied discipline

for living an overcoming life. The program provides individual counseling, case management,

and classes on Christianity, anger management, and relapse prevention. We offer our program

residents the benefits of Homeless outreach and being of service to our community, computer

skill development, and other vocational training opportunities.

‍

Step Up: https://www.stepup.org/locations/los-angeles-county

Step Up delivers compassionate support to people experiencing mental health conditions

and homelessness to help them recover, stabilize, and integrate into the community. Step Up

provides connections to permanent supportive housing, workforce development, supportive

services, and specific programs for transition-age youth and housing for veterans.

‍

The Weingart Center: https://www.weingart.org/housing-solutions

(operates Gardner Street Women’s Bridge Housing and Schrader Bridge Center)

The Weingart Center has become a permanent symbol of hope for those experiencing

homelessness in Downtown Los Angeles. We provide direct services to thousands of

economically disadvantaged individuals in the greater Los Angeles area, offering programs

uniquely tailored to meet the needs of this diverse population. Whatever the obstacles—

debt, addiction, a criminal record, mental illness, or physical illness—we help our clients

overcome these challenges and clear the way for a fulfilling life.

‍

HYGIENE

‍

Hollywood Adventist Church: https://www.hollywoodadventist.org

Compassion Connection offers reservable shower slots to unhoused and low-income guests.

‍

Project Ropa: https://www.projectropa.org

Provides persons experiencing homelessness with clean clothes, hygiene essentials, and

employment opportunities.

‍

LEGAL (these entities also serve geographic regions outside Hollywood)

‍

Inner City Law Center: https://innercitylaw.org

Inner City Law Center fights for housing and justice for low-income tenants, working-poor

families, immigrants, people who are disabled or living with HIV/AIDS, and homeless veterans.

The only legal-services provider located in Skid Row, we advocate for equitable housing

policies and provide legal services to prevent and end homelessness.

‍

Mental Health Advocacy Services: https://www.mhas-la.org

The mission of Mental Health Advocacy Services (MHAS) is to protect and advance the legal

rights of low-income adults and children with mental health disabilities and empower them

to assert those rights in order to maximize their autonomy, achieve equity, and secure the

resources they need to thrive.

‍

MEDICAL/MENTAL HEALTH

‍

Children’s Hospital Los Angeles:

https://www.chla.org/substance-use-prevention-and-treatment-program

CHLA’s Substance Use Treatment and Prevention Program aims to reduce alcohol and drugrelated harm in an outpatient approach to children and families experiencing addiction. The

program serves youth ages 10-17 and young adults ages 18-25. Priority is given to those

experiencing homeless, are HIV-positive, pregnant teens, and those who are suicidal or in

acute crisis.

‍

First Presbyterian Church of Hollywood: https://www.fpch.org/ministries/outreach

The Hollywood Healthcare Partnership began in 2003 through a collaboration with the Los

Angeles County Department of Mental Health. The ministry meets every Wednesday from

10:30am to Noon. In this setting our friends gather for lunch and engage with multiple

health services and activities such as Open Mic Performing, Art Classes and various support

groups. Partnerships include:

‍

• LA County Department of Mental Health Hollywood Office Clinical Psychologist who facilitates support groups and Open Mic sharing
• Service providers: Step Up, Housing Works, People Concern, E6 Teams, PATH, The Center at Blessed Sacrament and Department of Mental Health Outreach Teams
• Health agencies: DHS, Saban Community Clinic and QueensCare nurses.
• Women’s small group activities include prayer, Bible Study, and conversation about health topics like anxiety and depression

‍

This time of community engagement fosters friendships, personal development, and an

opportunity to pursue social services through these partner agencies.

‍

Healthcare in Action: https://www.healthcareinaction.org

We serve patients experiencing homelessness through an innovative “street medicine”

approach by contracting with Medicare and Medicaid health plans as well as hospitals and

health systems.

‍

Heart Forward LA: https://www.heartforwardla.org

Heart Forward LA seeks to transform the American mental health system through radical

hospitality. We promote bold system change and advance radical hospitality along with the

guiding principles that characterize the global best practice based in Trieste, Italy including

social recovery, the right to a purposeful life, system accountability, and whole person care.

‍

JWCH/Wesley Health Care Center: http://jwchinstitute.org

Wesley Health Centers provides a variety of health care programs and activities to the poor

and underserved segments of Los Angeles area through the direct provision or coordination

of health care, health education, services, and research. They have a health clinic located in

East Hollywood that serves families and anyone experiencing homelessness.

‍

Saban Community Clinic: https://www.sabancommunityclinic.org

Saban Community Clinic provides whole person care for vulnerable individuals and families

in Hollywood. For those experiencing homelessness, Saban offers a shower program

that not only assists with hygiene but also gives them the opportunity to talk with a case

manager, who is his or her “concierge” to their medical, behavioral health, dental and vision

care services – as well as to outside partners for housing and job training.

‍

Uplift Family Services: https://upliftfs.org/our-services (Family)

We solve complex mental health problems using a strength-based approach to define and

individualize services. Our clinical teams work in partnership with each family to plan,

deliver and evaluate those services. We recognize there is no one-size-fits-all path toward

hope. Uplift Family Services is a pioneer in the Wraparound philosophy for California. We

believe the most effective form of care for children, youth and their families is based in the

community, where we can build upon a foundation of support. We respect and are sensitive

to our clients’ social and cultural backgrounds. Our services are culturally relevant, and onequarter of our staff is certified bilingual.

‍

SUBSTANCE USE DISORDER

‍

Homeless Healthcare LA: https://www.hhcla.org

Provides needle exchange, naxalone for overdose reversal, housing, hygiene services and

medical and behavioral health services.

‍

The Center in Hollywood: https://thecenterinhollywood.org

Offers low-barrier individual and group substance use counseling. Clients can receive 12

individual sessions as well as attend as many group sessions as they’d like. Works with

clients on coordinating referrals to detox, inpatient/outpatient treatment, sober living,

sobering centers, and medication-based harm reduction treatment. There are no program

requirements other than having a history of experiencing homelessness and living in

Los Angeles.

‍

My Friend’s Place: https://www.myfriendsplace.org (Youth)

My Friend’s Place aims to assist and inspire homeless youth to build self-sufficient lives. My

Friend’s Place offers comprehensive services to youth experiencing homelessness between

the ages of 12 and 25, and their children, helping homeless young people move toward

wellness, stability, and self-sufficiency.

‍

PATH: https://epath.org/regions/greater-los-angeles

PATH seeks to end homelessness by building affordable housing and providing supportive

services throughout Los Angeles and California. In Los Angeles they provide a variety of

services for neighbors experiencing homelessness that include employment, outreach,

homelessness prevention, housing navigation, interim housing, rapid rehousing, and

permanent supportive housing.

‍

The Center in Hollywood: https://thecenterinhollywood.org

The Center works directly with those experiencing homelessness to build a sense of

community, end isolation, and provide a space to flourish for those who are homeless. It is

a trauma-informed center that engenders trust, safety, consistent boundaries, and a place

where individuals can make their own decisions about program participation and housing.

‍

The People Concern: https://www.thepeopleconcern.org

The People Concern provides a fully integrated system of care—including outreach, interim

housing, mental and medical health care, substance abuse services, domestic violence

services, life skills and wellness programs, and permanent supportive housing—tailored to

the unique needs of homeless individuals, survivors of domestic violence, challenged youth,

and others who have nowhere else to turn.

‍