A new way forward
The blue-ribbon commissioners were tasked with taking an in-depth look at LAHSA, and to recommend remedies to impediments that hamper the county's ability to effectively manage and govern homeless service systems.
The undertaking “was an extremely intense process,” Sarah Dusseault, cochair of the Blue Ribbon Commission on Homelessness, said Monday.
Commissioners spent hours in public meetings to shape recommendations they hope can create momentum for collective action. “We cannot sit idly by with 2,000 deaths in 12 months. We have to do more,” she said.
Initially, county leaders were skeptical about the need to create a commission to assess homelessness efforts when reports had been done. “However,” Barger said Monday, “none have been as comprehensive as the Blue Ribbon Commission's assessment.”
When released, the report noted a lack of “vital infrastructure” in the region that forces providers to operate with limited abilities that hamper what can be accomplished.
As a result, commissioners recommended that the county create a central entity “with responsible charge, accountability and authority over homelessness,” according to the report.
“I want to be clear this is not — and I repeat — this is not about creating a new lumbering bureaucracy,” Barger said Monday. “It's about creating a nimble entity that will be directly accountable to this board. It's about creating a department that will support flexible solutions that help people experiencing homelessness by meeting them where they are.”
If approved today, Barger added the recommendations would “get people experiencing homelessness a roof over their head, connected to supportive services, and off our streets for good.”
Other goals included in the 98-page report related to collective action, or “how do we bring more people into the solution?” Dusseault said.
Another recommendation is sharing of data, because “we're not going to solve this crisis if we don't have great data,” Dusseault said. She noted that including the community and those with lived experiences are equally as important.
Ronald Williams, a homeless advocate with lived experience, said during the seminar that homelessness is traumatic and for many leads to substance abuse, incarceration, job loss, domestic violence and mental health challenges.
“Homelessness is not linear … nor does it have a one-size-fits-all approach,” Williams said. The commission's recommendations are a “golden opportunity to bring traumainformed care to the forefront and incorporated into our multidisciplinary outreach programs.”