(photo courtesy of LAHSA)

The Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority presented a plan to the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors on May 26 for emerging from the COVID-19 crisis and housing thousands of people experiencing homelessness.

The multi-step L.A. Rehousing Recovery Strategy envisions a strengthened re-housing system that addresses racial inequity and preparation for future crises.

“Coronavirus laid a sudden crisis on top of the long-standing catastrophe of homelessness,” said Heidi Marston, interim executive director of LAHSA. “We’re planning a way through that allows us to take care of the most vulnerable and build capacity for the future.”

The plan maps out short-, medium- and long-term strategies that will guide the regional response regarding housing, shelter, unsheltered homelessness, strengthening system capacity, prevention and problem solving. The strategy is centered around a goal to rapidly move the 15,000 most high-risk, high-acuity people experiencing homelessness into housing.

Given the challenges of Los Angeles’ rental market, the L.A. Rehousing Recovery Strategy will require a large-scale effort to acquire and lease property, and build a new level of efficiency and real-time awareness of L.A.’s supportive housing inventory, Marston said. It will also depend on continued emergency investments from local, state and federal governments.

The recovery plan is based on key values, including that nobody who is housed returns to the street. Everyone placed in emergency shelter during the COVID-19 crisis will be placed into some form of interim housing, rapid rehousing or permanent supportive housing. Using age and information about individuals’ medical conditions, LAHSA has identified 15,000 of the most vulnerable unsheltered people, and has prioritized them for rehousing.

The plan also seeks to stop the inflow of people experiencing homelessness. Evidence suggests that more people than ever have fallen into homelessness in the past year, and policy must prioritize interventions to prevent continued inflow, according to LAHSA.

Authorities hope to prepare the system for future crises by building capacity across the entire system to enable a scaled-up response during public health emergencies. LAHSA also wants to ensure racial equity, and will prioritize equity in all programs and interventions.

Re-housing people who have already been sheltered during the COVID-19 crisis will be aided by LAHSA’s Housing Central Command, a collaborative effort that coordinates actions among city, county and federal agencies. That helps LAHSA develop real-time awareness about all housing assets and allows faster transition using emergency shelters and initiatives such as Project Roomkey, in which homeless individuals are sheltered in hotel and motel rooms.

The plan envisions an increased support system for people experiencing homelessness at the same time as systems to prevent and end homelessness are strengthened. It calls for zoning reforms, safety net enhancements, workforce training coordination and legal services.

“We are setting bold goals for a good reason, our priority focus right now is saving lives,” Marston said. “We are prioritizing people who will likely die if they contract COVID-19. It’s going to take a big investment of resources and alignment, but this crisis has seen many parts of our system come together and operate at unprecedented speed. We have every reason to continue to hold ourselves to that standard.”

For information, visit lahsa.org.