The Los Angeles City Council unanimously approved a plan to have 12,915 beds available to homeless people by June 2027.
The plan stems from a federal lawsuit filed by a coalition of Skid Row-area business owners and residents, known as the L.A. Alliance, in March 2020. It claimed that the city and LA County were not doing enough to address the homelessness crisis amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
In June 2020, the city and county settled the lawsuit, with the city leaders agreeing to provide 6,000 more beds by 2021. Five years later, U.S. District Judge David Carter, who presided over the 2020 hearings, determined that the city had failed to meet the settlement requirements. He ordered local leaders to create a new plan that would create 12,915 beds for homeless residents within two years.
As of June 30, the city currently has 11,216 beds, with 7,440 available and an additional 3,776 beds expected to open soon, according to City Administrative Officer Matt Szabo.
The city council approved Szabo’s plan to use time-limited subsidies, essentially short-term financial assistance, to fulfill most of the settlement requirements. Szabo’s proposal includes 130 non-congregate beds, 1,800 time-limited subsidies, and 200 recreational vehicle time-limited subsidies, which would bring the city’s total number of beds to 13,346.
“Essentially, the CAO (City Administrative Officer) has proposed we fill this gap with time-limited subsidies, which is both cost-effective and has excellent outcomes for participants,” said Councilwoman Nithya Raman, chair of the Housing and Homeless Committee. “This is an approach that I support.”
While she approved the plan, Councilwoman Ysabel Jurado raised concerns about the plan’s sustainability.
“If we’re creating time-limited placements without a plan for what happens after two years, especially for residents on fixed incomes, we’re simply kicking the can down the road,” Jurado said.