Homelessness In L.A.-- Can We Learn From How Utah Solved Their Homeless Problem?

Local county government doesn't get a say in whether or not the U.S. gets Medicare-for-All. But I ask local candidates about it-- and other federal issues-- anyway, primarily to get an idea of how progressive they are likely to be when it comes to solving local problems. Darrell Park is running to be elected an L.A. county supervisor, in the last district held by a Republican. And it's a blue district.

He's a Berniecrat who's all the way in on Medicare-for-All and the other issues that are important to progressive voters-- things like improving L.A.'s environment by powering L.A. County with 100% renewable electricity by 2030, one of his top planks. He's an author who wrote the book, Better Than We Found It: Simple Solutions to Some of the World's Toughest Problems, much of it based on his own experience working at the Office of Management and Budget in DC and as an environmental entrepreneur here in L.A. "I believe elected officials have a responsibility to make our community better and to solve problems," he says. "When a public servant fails to meet this basic standard, it's time to elect a new leader.

That's why I am running." The current occupant of the seat, Republican Kathryn Barger, has a very different approach to solving L.A.'s problems: "America needs President Donald Trump's approach" and on Trump's inhuman treatment of immigrants Barger said, "I'm hoping tough love does it because obviously playing nice in the sandbox has done nothing."

I asked him about the issue that is foremost in the minds of many Angelenos-- homelessness. His "let's Fix It" approached is why I asked him to write a guest post. If you like what he had to say, please consider contributing to his campaign here.








Fixing Homelessness
by Darrell Park


L.A. County gets an F for its handling of homelessness. It is a humanitarian crisis worthy of a third world country-- not the richest county in America. More than a billion dollars of your taxes are spent every year on the problem-- but where does it go? And the problem gets worse every day.

I found amazing solutions to the problem in Utah, where they have reduced their homeless population by more than 95%-- with the radical idea of actually putting the homeless into housing. During my stay, I counted only five homeless folks during my time there. Had I done the same in L.A. County for the same period of time, I would have counted thousands of homeless neighbors.

Although the problem seems insurmountable, we can follow Utah's lead and get 200 of our homeless into permanent supportive housing every day for a year and reap the humanitarian and monetary benefits. You may not realize this, but every unhoused person costs you as a taxpayer $40,000-- while permanent supportive housing costs only $20,000. You don't have to be a math professor to realize that you will save more than $1 billion per year just by providing permanent supportive housing. And that doesn't even include the economic growth that occurs by a double-digit percentage of the homeless becoming taxpayers within 30 days. We often forget that 50% of our homeless are without housing because of job loss. The quicker we can get them into housing and back to work they enjoy, the better off they (and we) are.

The key to getting our homeless neighbors off the streets and into permanent supportive housing is to make sure that every single person gets into a permanent supportive housing situation that fits their particular set of needs. 50% of the homeless became unhoused due to job loss. For those folks, quickly helping them get into housing and finding a job close to where they live is imperative. Each person in this circumstance will be provided with a mentor and a support group that helps them with things like figuring out transportation to and from work, getting job training so they can advance and get promoted.

For those that are severely mentally, they will be treated with the kindness, dignity, and respect that upper middle class folks undergoing treatment for mental illness receive. Their housing will reflect the level of support which is appropriate for them on a person by person basis, with no one being pigeonholed.

For homeless families, housing will be provided that enables them to live in community with other families yet with enough privacy and individual support So they can thrive and not just survive. Parents will be given job training In areas such as solar, that pay extremely well and kids will be given extra support including tutoring, and whatever else is needed to help them in school.

This is not a pipe dream. We have all the tools, money, and experience to have ours every single homeless person in LA County. And when we do We will save $20,000 per homeless person, Or more than $1 billion per year.

Too often in L.A. County our government just throws up its hands and pretends that problems cannot to be solved. Utah is the proof that these problems are solvable and if they can do it, so can we-- and they are willing to help us get there. Please join me in committing to end homelessness. I will take only 50% of my salary if elected, until 99% of the homeless are housed in permanent supportive housing.

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This is a video from a couple years ago but it will give you an idea of Park's thought process and way of looking at problem-solving.