Last Tuesday, the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved additional steps for Project 50, a three-year, $5.6 million pilot program designed to provide housing and services to 50 homeless individuals. The approval will now require organizers of the program to report back to the supervisors at least every 90 days, and county staffers to review the project’s budget. Furthermore, it establishes an executive steering committee of county officials to oversee the program, a public health nurse to direct it, and teams of county social service workers to help people obtain housing, as well as medical and other services.
The 50 individuals who will be receiving housing and other services were identified recently with the help of volunteers who conducted early morning interviews with several hundred homeless people downtown. Starting next week, a county social service team of seven will return to downtown and search for the 50 people previously identified and encourage them to move to county-funding apartments, as well as receive regular medical and mental-health care.
It is estimated that more than 73,000 homeless people live in Los Angeles County. Supporters of Project 50 claim that the program could save taxpayers millions of dollars currently spent on homeless people who wind up in shelters, jails, or emergency rooms.
Link: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/los_angeles_metro/la-me-skidrow9jan09,1,3614100.story?coll=la-commun-los_angeles_metro&ctrack=5&cset=true
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