Judge orders LA to offer housing to homeless people by October

A federal judge in California has ordered Los Angeles to offer housing to its homeless population on Skid Row by October.

In a 110-page order on Tuesday, Judge David Carter ordered the city and county of Los Angeles to offer housing to the general population on Skid Row within 180 days, which would be by Oct. 18.

The city and county also have to offer housing to unaccompanied women and children on Skid Row by July 19, and to unaccompanied families by Aug. 18.

In his 110-page order, Carter blasted the city’s inability to address adequate care for its homeless population as well as the toll it has taken on the city.

“There can be no defense to the indefensible. For all the declarations of success that we are fed, citizens themselves see the heartbreaking misery of the homeless and the degradation of their City and County,” Carter wrote. “Los Angeles has lost its parks, beaches, schools, sidewalks, and highway systems due to the inaction of City and County officials who have left our homeless citizens with no other place to turn.”

The order came a day after Mayor Eric Garcetti unveiled his plan to spend $1 billion to tackle homelessness in the city.

Carter ordered $1 billion “as represented by Mayor Garcetti, will be placed in escrow forthwith, with funding streams accounted for and reported to the court within seven days.” Carter also ordered an audit of all funding intended to address the city’s homeless crisis.

Garcetti didn’t provide much comment on the order during a press conference Tuesday because he wanted more time to read the order.

However, he noted that Carter’s timeline would be an “unprecedented pace” for the city to tackle its homelessness issue.

The Hill has reached out to Garcetti’s office for further comment.

The suit was filed last year by the LA Alliance for Human Rights, accusing the city and county of failing to fully address its homeless population.

There were over 66,400 homeless people in Los Angeles County as of January 2020, of which 41,000 are within LA city limits, according to The Associated Press.