In December 2010, the Home for Good Plan was launched in L.A. Now the plan has exceeded its goal in getting long-term homeless and veterans into housing. More than 3,000 of Los Angeles County’s most entrenched homeless population have moved into permanent housing, The Los Angeles Times reports. The Home for Good Plan aims to end long-term and veteran homelessness in the county by 2016.
The chronically homeless make up just a quarter of the 51,000 people without permanent shelter on any given night. But they use up a disproportion- ate share of public services, including hospital emergency rooms and jails, experts say. The plan proposes real- locating about $230 million in existing resources each year to pay for permanent supportive housing, which includes counseling and treatment, to help keep people off the streets.
In all, 2,273 chronically homeless people have been placed in supportive housing. That is 573 more than hoped for in the first year, the report says, and at least 864 veterans who are not considered chronically homeless were also housed.
There have been concerns from some service providers that too many resources are being directed at
the chronically homeless at the expense of youths and families who may need housing or recovery programs, but plan supporters argue that moving chronic street dwellers into permanent homes will free up significant resources for other homeless populations.
