County supervisors to approve Measure H funds

Lori Broadway sits in Veteran's Historical Plaza Park. Austin Dave /The Signal
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Three months after Measure H was passed in Los Angeles County, the Board of Supervisors will finalize where funding for homelessness will go at their meeting on Tuesday.

Measure H, which was approved during a countywide special election in March, will raise taxes one-fourth of a cent for ten years to go toward homeless services.

Over the course of the decade, the taxes are expected to raise $3.5 billion.

“Now is the time for the Board of Supervisors to move forward with funding and most responsible practices,” Supervisor Kathryn Barger’s Communications Deputy Tony Bell said.

Supervisors will be using “evidence-based practices” to decipher how much funding certain regions, organizations and groups of people need, according to Bell.

“Certainly, in Measure H conversations, there are unique needs,” Bell said. “Some of these motions will address some of those needs.”

According to Joel Sappell from the Office of Countywide Communications, the funding plan proposed for the next fiscal year will distribute almost $259 million and over $1 billion for the next three years.

The measure aims to end homelessness for 45,000 families and people and help prevent 30,000 others from losing their housing, Sappell cited.

January’s homeless count totaled 57,794, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority’s report. This is a 23 percent increase in the county from last year.

Fifth District Supervisor Barger, alongside Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, will propose a motion to aid homeless women who have suffered from domestic abuse or trauma by implementing a women’s crisis housing program.

“The motion provides funding for permanent supportive housing for homeless women,” Bell said. “This will be one of the many strategies the board will be potentially adopting.”

The supervisors’ motion aims to take a “trauma-informed approach,” the motion said, with an emphasis on planning for women’s future safety.

If passed, the motion would attain a minimum of 200 beds to house homeless women who have experienced domestic violence.

Also, LAHSA would determine how much funding this would require, find relevant agencies to serve as stakeholders and design the program and timeline.

Of those homeless across L.A. County, 31 percent are women, the homeless count found.

Nationally, over 90 percent of women who are homeless have been physically or sexually abused, Barger and Kuehl’s motion cites. Particularly in Los Angeles County, 50 percent of women who are homeless are victims of domestic violence.

Also, between 22 and 57 percent of homeless women directly correlate their abuse to their homelessness, the motion said.

For more information on Measure H and homelessness in L.A. County, visit homeless.lacounty.gov.

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