$12 BILLION FOR L.A.'S HOMELESS? KEY PANEL OFFERS PLAN TO END COUNTY'S PROBLEM.

Byline: TROY ANDERSON Staff Writer

Putting a roof over the head of every homeless resident of Los Angeles County -- long considered the nation's homeless capital -- will cost up to $12 billion over the next decade, but it's a price worth paying, says a landmark three-year study released today.

Prepared by representatives of more than 60 government, business, faith-based and nonprofit groups -- and considered the most extensive study ever of the county's homelessness problem -- the 119-page report from the Bring L.A. Home Blue Ribbon Panel lays out a 10-year plan to eradicate homelessness.

Even before the panel was scheduled to present its report today at a downtown ceremony at the Midnight Mission, critics have called Bring L.A. Home's approach a pie-in-the-sky solution to a nagging problem.

It is bound by seven ``guiding principles'' including creating at least 11,500 more affordable-housing units, increasing short-term housing and improving services to the homeless.

``The total price tag for our region is going to be somewhere in the range of $1.5 billion every year,'' said Bob Erlenbusch, executive director of the Los Angeles Coalition to End Hunger and Homelessness and a report author.

``Obviously, the price tag is enormous, but doing nothing for 90,000 homeless people is enormous, too.''

Daniel Flaming, president of The Economic Roundtable, a nonprofit policy research organization, said the authors of the report concluded that Los Angeles County and its 88 cities already spend $505 million a year on homeless services, including medical care, housing, welfare and incarceration.

``The key is for every community to recognize that they are part of a regional economy and regional social fabric that gives rise to the problem of homelessness,'' Flaming said.

But Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association President Jon Coupal said he suspected that such a plan would ultimately force officials to raise taxes.

``If they impose dramatically new taxes, then they will have even more homeless because a lot of people living in homes will be forced out of them,'' Coupal said.

``I will believe this program will be successful when I see it, but my gut feeling is that like (President) Lyndon Johnson's `War on Poverty,' it sounds good, but the devil is in the details.''

The report comes as Los Angeles city and county officials have promised to spend more than $150 million to enhance housing and other services for the homeless.

``This is a great week for homelessness, given the county's plan and now Bring L.A. Home,'' said Elizabeth Kivowitz, spokeswoman for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa. ``We are looking forward to building on this momentum and energy to strengthen our growing collaboration with the county to address homelessness and to work together to reinvigorate and revitalize the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority.''

The Bring L.A. Home plan is similar to others developed across the nation in recent years. Earlier this year, county officials toured New York City's Times Square, which like downtown Los Angeles was once beset by the homeless, but is now cited as a national model.

In the past few years, New York City, which spends $750 million annually to combat homelessness, has seen its homeless population drop from 80,000 to 30,000.

By comparison, five years ago, Los Angeles city and county spent just $2 million annually to address their homelessness problem.

Los Angeles County, which has one of the nation's largest disparities between wealthy and low-income people, now has the largest homeless population in the United States.

On any given night, nearly 90,000 people are homeless, including 10,000 children.

Noting that nearly 90 percent of the homeless are unemployed, the report also calls for more programs to help them get jobs.

In light of a survey that found that more than half of the homeless had visited a county emergency room in the past year, the report recommended the creation of a homelessness council to coordinate health and human services among county departments.

The blue-ribbon panel also recommended that officials strengthen partnerships with the criminal-justice system, noting that more than 12,000 people are released from county jails each year onto the streets.

To address the ``dumping'' of homeless people from hospitals and jails on Skid Row, the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday approved a $100 million plan that calls for the creation of five full-service ``stabilization centers'' where homeless inmates and hospital patients could be discharged.

County Chief Administrative Officer David Janssen said the county plans to expand five of its existing 16 homeless shelters to serve as stabilization centers, and if some communities support locating the centers within their boundaries, the county would consider that.

``We want to consider any place where there is interest or support,'' Janssen said.

To help pay for Bring L.A. Home, the authors suggested using local funding to bring more state and federal money, estimating that $5 could be leveraged from other sources for every $1 spent on affordable housing.

While the city and county are researching funding sources, the authors said at least two infrastructure bond measures that would fund housing development are being considered at the state level.

Officials are also considering seeking private funding, realigning the use of existing welfare funding and seeking help from cities throughout the county.

And as the plan goes into effect, officials expect savings in the $505 million spent annually on the homeless, which can be applied to helping people avoid homelessness.

``We know there are going to be challenges,'' Midnight Mission spokesman Orlando Ward said. ``We just hope that officials stay as encouraged and steadfast as they have been for the last year in coming up with this document to actually implement it.''

troy.anderson(at)dailynews.com

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