Letters to the Editor: Is Rick Caruso’s ‘short-term’ homelessness plan what L.A. needs?
In his column “The New Homeless Crisis,” Rick Caruso said the city is experiencing a “new homeless crisis” and that it isn’t the homeless problem he warned about a decade ago:
“We have come to the end of the line with our own housing crisis. The homeless are still here, and I believe it is because we have been looking at an empty solution to their problem — and making it worse. And now a few more people are homeless because of it.”
Is Caruso suggesting that city homeless programs are to blame for ending the homeless problem in Los Angeles or that all city agencies and programs are to blame for the homelessness that he so clearly warned about a decade ago?
In light of the fact that Caruso’s column is misleading, inaccurate and is a clear attempt to score political points for the mayor’s office, his words must be taken with a large dose of skepticism.
As the homeless population increases in Los Angeles, city programs, and efforts, must be made to meet the growing needs of the homeless. Homelessness is a complex challenge that cannot be solved with any single strategy.
While Caruso seems to be trying to score political points for the mayor’s office, he fails to acknowledge that the mayor, who took office more than a decade ago, has tried to address the homeless crisis with a wide range of strategies, including the Downtown Homeless Initiative (DHI) and the Homeless Services Commission (HSC).
In addition, Caruso’s column fails to acknowledge that the city council has made a variety of attempts, over the course of the last decade, to address the homeless crisis by implementing both public and private programs to provide emergency shelter, transitional housing, group-living and permanent supportive housing.
Despite all of these attempts, Caruso suggests that the city is experiencing a new “homeless crisis” and
