Imagine being the only conservative on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors. You would be imagining the life of Supervisor (and former State GOP Chairman) Mike Antonovich. That said, he has consistently stood tall for the cause, and should be given a lot of credit. This short piece from the Supervisor demonstrates a perspective that comes from being ‘on the ground’ in an area where homelessness is rampant.
MIKE ANTONOVICH ON HOMELESSNESS
The solution to the homeless problem is not to spread it to other communities but to reduce the number of people who are homeless.
To effectively solve the homelessness problem, fundamental reform of our mental health laws must be accomplished including mandatory psychological, alcohol and drug abuse treatment. However these necessary reforms continue to be opposed by groups aligned with the ACLU and like-minded legislators.
Skid Row, located near Los Angeles City’s downtown (one of our 88 cities), has the highest concentration of homeless individuals. The solution is not forcing them into neighboring cities and communities as suggested by the downtown special interests looking to profit on the area’s new high property values as evidenced by the ill-advised taxpayer subsidy of the Grand AvenueProject. Services must continue to be provided within the Skid Row area. Organizations like the Weingart Center and Beyond Shelter, who recently received over $3 million dollars in grant funds from the Board of Supervisors play an important role. For many, Skid Row will remain “home” and to eliminate services would only force them to remain on the streets.
While community- based treatment facilities, stabilization centers, family access centers, and transitional housing are valuable temporary tools to treat symptoms of homelessness, the long-term solution requires state legislation to reform the dysfunctional mental health laws. Local experience continues to demonstrate that those suffering form mental illness and/or alcohol substance abuse require mandatory treatment.
Without the fundamental reform of providing supportive housing that would include mandatory services, the homeless will forever be locked in a broken system of warehousing without healing no matter what city they reside in.
The solution to the homeless problem is not to spread it to other communities but to reduce the number of people who are homeless. To effectively solve the homelessness problem, fundamental reform of our mental health laws must be accomplished including mandatory psychological, alcohol and drug abuse treatment. However these necessary reforms continue to be opposed by groups aligned with the ACLU and like-minded legislators.
Skid Row, located near Los Angeles City’s downtown (one of our 88 cities), has the highest concentration of homeless individuals. The solution is not forcing them into neighboring cities and communities as suggested by the downtown special interests looking to profit on the area’s new high property values as evidenced by the ill-advised taxpayer subsidy of the Grand AvenueProject. Services must continue to be provided within the Skid Row area. Organizations like the Weingart Center and Beyond Shelter, who recently received over $3 million dollars in grant funds from the Board of Supervisors play an important role. For many, Skid Row will remain “home” and to eliminate services would only force them to remain on the streets.
While community- based treatment facilities, stabilization centers, family access centers, and transitional housing are valuable temporary tools to treat symptoms of homelessness, the long-term solution requires state legislation to reform the dysfunctional mental health laws. Local experience continues to demonstrate that those suffering form mental illness and/or alcohol substance abuse require mandatory treatment.
Without the fundamental reform of providing supportive housing that would include mandatory services, the homeless will forever be locked in a broken system of warehousing without healing no matter what city they reside in.
Of course one of the biggest challenges is that homelessness is created, in a large part, by a wholesale embrace of the welfare state by liberal politicians — of which Los Angeles has plenty…