L.A.'s Homeless Epidemic

The homeless population in Los Angeles jumped 5.7% compared to last year. There was a huge increase in the number of camps offering evidence to the epidemic across the country. However there has been a 30% drop in the number of homeless veterans and an 18% decrease in homeless families. Both of these decreases were a result from more spending on housing vouchers for veterans and an increase in temporary shelters for homeless families. Although this does lead to decrease in the homeless population the reason for the actual increase is because there has been more accountability for young homeless people. To help continue combatting homelessness the L.A. county board have to moved to increase spending on housing by $98 million. The city however wants to add an additional $138 million to combat this. Mr. Garcetti, the mayor of L.A., said “we need hands on deck to tackle this crisis.” With an increase in funding and correct allocation there is a way to decrease homelessness.

Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/steve-peck/las-homeless-count-is-sob_b_9888896.html
-Lynette Daigo