Jamboree is required to use Los Angeles County’s Coordinated Entry System (CES) for Placements:
- Tenants will be assigned through the Los Angeles County Coordinated Entry System that “prioritizes eligible tenants based on criteria other than “first-come-first-served,” including, but not limited to, the duration or chronicity of homelessness, vulnerability to early mortality, or high utilization of crisis services.” [Claremont homeless have no priority over others and are likely to be excluded in favor of those who have been homeless for many years]
- “Intake policies are designed to ‘screen-in’ rather than screen-out applicants with the greatest barriers to housing, such as having no or very low income, poor rental history and past evictions, or criminal histories.
STC believes a “good fit” for this area would be seniors and families, not single adults that are expected to be 60-70% male. In addition, these types of projects are known to draw drug dealers for easy targeting of people who are working diligently to stay drug free. Unscreened visitors are eligible to stay with friends.
- QUOTED: Coordinated Entry System Policy: Prioritization
The LA County CES will, to the greatest extent feasible, identify and prioritize persons with the greatest service needs and levels of vulnerability (determined by CES Triage Tools, full SPDAT assessment, and/or case conferencing) for available and appropriate housing and homeless assistance before those with less severe needs and lower levels of vulnerability.
- “The use of alcohol or drugs in and of itself, without other lease violations, is not a reason for eviction.”
- “Tenant screening and selection practices that promote accepting applicants regardless of their sobriety or use of substances, completion of treatment, or participation in services.”
- “Applicants are not rejected on the basis of poor credit or financial history, poor or lack of rental history, criminal convictions unrelated to tenancy, or behaviors that indicate a lack of ‘housing readiness’.” [Criminal convictions do not preclude residency]
- “Participation in services or program compliance is not a condition of permanent housing tenancy.” [All services are optional]
- “Tenants have a lease and all the rights and responsibilities of tenancy, as outlined in California’s Civil, Health and Safety, and Government codes.” [Same rights as standard tenant leases]
- This is ONLY for Special Needs individuals- chronically homeless who must have one or more disabilities, including mental illness and substance abuse.
- Per HUD rules up to 87 can legally reside here every month on a lot that use to have a single home.
- If Jamboree is correct and 40 tenants live there, these residents could potentially have up to 47 unvetted guests, who would be allowed to stay for up to three weeks per year for one week at a time. Visitors are not screened in any way for criminal activity. The same visitor can stay for the same amount of time if residing in a different unit. Jamboree has offered no procedure for tracking visitors length of stay.
- Any number of unvetted guests (up to the total capacity of 87) are allowed to stay up to three weeks per year in one week increments and are NOT screened in any way for criminal activity!
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Housing First- California Welfare and Institutions Code § 8255 (2021) :: 2021 California Code :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law ::
https://law.justia.com/codes/california/2021/code-wic/division-8/chapter-6-5/section-8255/
The 'Housing First' Approach Has Failed
- The federal government’s “Housing First” program, which has been in existence for almost 2 decades, has failed to reduce overall homelessness
- The vast majority of federal homelessness funding is spent on Housing First programs. Despite nearly doubling the nation’s stock of Housing First units since 2007, there is no evidence homelessness has been reduced
- “Treatment First” has been shown to be effective – the combination of housing and treatment with obligations and enforcement has been successful
- Housing First has housing retention rates of 80% but does not improve substance abuse, mental health or employment outcomes; Treatment First has housing retention rates of 40% but significantly improves substance abuse, mental health and employment outcomes.
Deep Dive on Housing First
Housing Does Not End Mental Illness or Addiction (from HUD)
“Housing did not result in substantial improvements in mental illness or substance use disorders within the 12-month study period. These clients have long-standing mental illnesses and, in most cases, co-occurring substance-related disorders. While the housing provided by the
programs increased housing stability and afforded the opportunity to receive treatment, substantial progress toward recovery and self-sufficiency often takes years and is not a linear process, rather it is a series of ups and downs.”*
* “The Applicability of Housing First Models to Homeless Persons with Serious Mental Illness”, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Office of Public Policy Department and Research, September 10, 2007.
https://www.huduser.gov/portal//publications/pdf/hsgfirst.pdf
It’s hardly just an issue of affordability and economic inequality.
“For those people who were surveyed, health, behavioral health and trauma are significant contributing factors to loss of housing.”*
*Health Conditions Among Unsheltered Adults in the U.S., California Policy Lab, October 2019
https://www.capolicylab.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Health-Conditions-Among-Unsheltered-Adults-in-the-U.S.pdf