Plan to Aid L.A. Homeless Draws Fire, Modest Praise

An ambitious plan aimed at reducing problems associated with Los Angeles’ large homeless population drew cautious praise from volunteer service providers but criticism from some of the homeless themselves at a special hearing on Tuesday.

The 21-point plan, released last week by a task force organized by the Police and Fire commissions, calls for the county to pay for establishment of new temporary care facilities for inebriates and the mentally ill, along with a more aggressive police posture on Skid Row. It is scheduled to be presented next week to the county Board of Supervisors and Mayor Tom Bradley.

Organizers of Justiceville, the shanty village built by the homeless in 1985 and later bulldozed by the city, complained that they were being left out of the policy-making process. However, Police Commissioner Barbara Lindemann Schlei stressed the unanimity of purpose.

“We all agree that finding cost-effective ways to bring people off the street and putting them in an adequate facility is an admirable goal,” said Schlei, who conducted the study with Fire Commissioner Ann Reiss Lane. “. . . I’m sure nobody here is suggesting we should leave people out on the street.”

Among the major proposals are:

- That the county provide a series of shelters that meets standards of of the Welfare and Institutions Code to provide 72-hour treatment of inebriates, including medical service, food and beds. Such public facilities do not now exist in the county.

- An expansion of the private, nonprofit Civilian Assistance Patrol, known as the “Boozer Cruiser,” because of its role in transporting inebriates to service providers, such as the rescue missions, the Weingart Center and the Volunteers of America sobering station. The expansion of the citizen patrol and the creation of a mobile mental health unit would help to reduce demand on police, the report said.

“A black-and-white police car is not cost-effective,” Schlei said.

- Expanded services to meet the problems of the homeless mentally ill, including the creation of a mobile response unit for the mentally ill funded by the county Department of Mental Health. Funds should also be provided to increase the non-traditional mental health service provided by the L.A. Men’s Place.

- A 24-hour drop-in shelter for homeless women.

- A police program, through the creation of a supervisory position, “police coordinator-Skid Row,” to crack down on robberies, assaults and drug violations. The presence of more private security guards is also encouraged.

Ted Hayes, a homeless man who calls himself the “servant-director” of the Justiceville organization, criticized the commissioners for not interviewing members of his group, before making their report. The Justiceville group operates without funding in a donated office, Hayes said.

The task force’s plan “has some good points,” Hayes said, but offers few new ideas and could lead to more violent confrontations between the police and the homeless.

Much of the praise offered in Tuesday’s hearing was cautious. Ed Eisenstadt of the Volunteers of America urged that the efforts “proceed with an awful lot of caution,” noting that the group’s detoxification program can only handle 12 people a day.

Nancy Daly, representing the county Children’s Services Commission, pointed out that the report provided no recommendations aimed at helping children on Skid Row. She speculated that child abuse may be a greater problem there than elsewhere.

Living Conditions

“I hate to think of what they’re suffering under the conditions in which they are living,” Daly said.

Schlei said she hoped that some of the recommendations may be in effect by June, when another hearing is scheduled.