La Mayor Eric Garcetti Discusses Homelessness Strategy With Community Leaders

Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti held a forum with community leaders on Wednesday, December 7, 2016 to discuss homelessness strategy. The Diocesan Primate Archbishop Hovnan Derderian attended the meeting and represented the Western Diocese of the Armenian Church of North America.

Mayor Garcetti has devised three Pillars for a City homelessness strategy that included:

Housing people who were currently homeless by scaling up the Coordinated Entry System including more staff, more rapid rehousing subsidies and more permanent supportive housing.

The Coordinated Entry System (CES) quickly and efficiently matches people to available housing resources and services by stitching existing programs together into a no-wrong-door system, connecting homeless adults to the best resources for them.

CES allows us to know our veterans are regardless of which provider they visit and generate a by-name registry to track housing placements, so that we can assess their housing and health needs and then prioritize them for available housing and services.

Preventing people at-risk of homelessness from becoming homeless by producing and preserving affordable housing, by increasing incomes (such as through an increased minimum wage) and by improving transitions from high-risk institutions like jails, hospitals, military and foster care. 

Vision for the street that balances the need for health and safety on the street with the rights and needs of the people forced to live on them and a “No Wrong Door” approach whereby any City staff interaction with a homeless person would connect that person to the Coordinated Entry System. 

To learn more visit https://www.lamayor.org/homelessness