LOS ANGELES — Almost 7,000 homeless people living in encampments near freeways, as well as homeless seniors over 65 and others vulnerable to COVID-19, will be brought indoors over the next 18 months under a joint legal agreement signed by the county and city of Los Angeles and approved June 18 by a federal judge.
“With the COVID-19 pandemic further exacerbating Los Angeles’ homeless crisis, it is imperative that we marshal our county and city resources to bring our most vulnerable neighbors indoors as expeditiously as possible,” Supervisor Mark Ridley-Thomas said.
The agreement builds on the existing partnership between the city and county, which together housed 22,000 homeless people last year, based on the Greater Los Angeles Homeless Count released last week.
The agreement stems from a federal civil suit, filed in March by a group of downtown business owners and residents called the LA Alliance for Human Rights, alleging that the city and county of Los Angeles have failed to protect the public and provide adequate shelter for those living on the streets.
“Building on this agreement with the county, we need to be doubling our efforts to incentivize new housing, expand mental health and drug addiction services, and meet other critical needs to help people turn their lives around.”
