Homeless survey results aim to help Skid Row's most vulnerable find housing
Hayley Fox/blogdowntown
Annabelle Rosborough interviewed Edward Potts during the "vulnerability survey" conducted on Skid Row homeless last month. Data from those interviews has been used to identify the area's chronically homeless.
DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES — Skid Row has been in the news a lot lately, from a tuberculosis "outbreak" to possible Supreme Court involvement, but last night at the Union Rescue Mission the focus was on long-term goals to get the homeless, housed.
Organizers of the Skid Row homeless count and survey gathered on Thursday to discuss the results of their three-night effort to gather information about the area's homeless.
This "vulnerability survey" was conducted last month and resulted in information from 532 people on Skid Row. With this data, a coalition of missions and service providers in the area will identify the most at-risk transients and work to find them housing first. Organizers have identified the most vulnerable Skid Row residents as being:
- At least 60 years old
- HIV positive or living with AIDS
- Being hospitalized or using Emergency Room services at least three times in the last year
- Chronically homeless for a 10 year period or longer
They have also defined "chronic homelessness" as being "an unaccompanied individual who has been homeless for one continuous year or longer, or has had at least three episodes of homelessness in the past three years."
More than half of the people surveyed are considered chronically homeless. Some of the most extreme cases include a 57-year-old man who has been homeless for 30 years, and a 45-year-old woman who has been homeless for 30 years.
Survey results also included people's ages, mental health and substance abuse issues, and whether they were veterans or grew up in foster care.
But one of the most significant findings showed that there were more emergency room visits than people; there were a total of 550 ER visits in the last three months according to survey-takers, and a total of 771 inpatient hospitalizations over the past year.
Now the coalition of service providers are using photos and information from the survey to track down the people they've identified as the most vulnerable, and work to get them housed. The goal is to house more than 1,500 of the most at-risk, chronically homeless people by 2015.
zeMinimalist (@zeMinimalist) on March 01, 2013, at 10:23AM – #1
Someone's mear existence does not entitle them to having a home. Someone's lack of ability to correct their life does not entitle them to having a home. Those who should receive the only help should be those who show a willingness to correct their life. No sense in throwing good money after bad. Also, once a plan is in place, there should be a strict policy enforced of no people are allowed to live on the streets. Otherwise Skid Row will never rid the homeless on the streets because for every person we house, another homeless person will show up. Skid Row is not the homeless destination of LA. That being said, I suggest we change the name and not refer to it as such.
Pershing was a square on March 02, 2013, at 04:12PM – #2
It's an admirable goal to help the most needy. But I doubt this will really clean up either skid row or the rest of downtown. There's a huge nightly encampment at Angel's Flight where just last night as I walked my dog I saw both a fight and then in that grassy area beyond the train a guy taking a dump. Just because people have a job and can pay rent doesn't mean they should have to have that as part of their everyday life. I guess what I find appalling is that the city and the homeless advocates seem to think that's ok.
JasonM on March 04, 2013, at 11:08AM – #3
The missions and other 'helping' organizations, SROs are part of the problem. They make SkidRow a destination for handouts - thereby making sure everything stays the same. Besides the percentage of seriously disturbed people who should get all the help they need, the majority of the folks hanging out there don't have any incentives to take care of themselves. Everything's free around here. Shame on City Hall who subsidizes all those missions.....
John G on March 04, 2013, at 03:09PM – #4
Agree with all of the above posts.
Skid Row has been nothing more than a "containment" area that not only houses the homeless, but the politcal arena of vote-buying politicians and charity advocates. It has been decades and the problem here still persists. We now have health risks endangering the area again due to progressive liberals who feel the homeless have the same property rights as law-abiding citizens. This is so stupid when you have drugs and needles scattered all over the place and nothing here can be cleaned up correctly.
Ted on March 05, 2013, at 08:28AM – #5
Why is that nightly homeless camp by Angel's Flight being allowed? It's frightening.
Pershing was a square on March 06, 2013, at 11:16AM – #6
That's what I don't understand, Ted. Why do they let that happen there? It's a tourist destination with the the market, cal plaza, and angel's flight right there. Last night I felt terrible. A family of tourists with kids were scurrying past after they get off the funicular and I heard them comment that they shouldn't have come there. Not the first time I've seen or heard similar things. It's terrible for residents but also for tourism.
@John G - I'm a progressive liberal so watch your remarks. You can be liberal and not want to see someone peeing on your front door. So if only republicans were running the show it'd be different? Yeah right.
John G on March 06, 2013, at 02:07PM – #7
@Pershing was a square
Since when did republicans run the show? How long have liberals been running LA? One week? Decades?
Watch my remarks? So is that another threat from a liberal progressive like yourself?