LOS ANGELES (AP) Los Angeles County leaders announced Monday a lawsuit settlement agreement that commits hundreds of millions of dollars to expand outreach and supportive services for homeless residents, marking the potential end of two years of litigation over the crisis of people living on the streets.
A federal appeals court overturned a lower court s order that required the city and county of Los Angeles to find housing for 4,600 Skid Row residents by October.
The judge hearing the case has already ordered the city and county of Los Angeles to pony up $1 billion in an impound account and explain why a state of emergency has never been called to address the homelessness crisis.
FILE – In this Feb. 4, 2021, file photo, Jeff Page, right, also known as General Jeff, a homelessness activist and leader in the Downtown Los Angeles Skid Row Neighborhood Council, walks with U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter, middle, and Michele Martinez, special master on the issues of homelessness, after a court hearing at Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles. Carter has ordered the city and county to find shelter for all unhoused residents of Skid Row within 180 days. He also ordered an audit of all funding related to the crisis of people living on the streets. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)
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LOS ANGELES
Racism, corruption, and inaction by Los Angeles city and county officials have caused a massive homeless problem, and intervention by the courts is the only way to ensure that people are provided with shelter, a U.S. District Court judge has ruled.
Judge David Carter issued a withering 109-page order Tuesday, accusing Los Angeles bureaucrats of raking in billions of tax dollars without any real results to stem the tide of homelessness that increases by double digits each year. The judge has now taken control of the city s and county’s homeless abatement efforts and ordered housing for the entire Skid Row population of 4,600 by October.
The federal judge is overseeing a lawsuit brought by a group of Los Angeles residents and business owners who say the city and county haven’t done enough to address the homelessness crisis.
FILE – In this Feb. 4, 2021, file photo, Jeff Page, right, also known as General Jeff, a homelessness activist and leader in the Downtown Los Angeles Skid Row Neighborhood Council, walks with U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter, middle, and Michele Martinez, special master on the issues of homelessness, after a court hearing at Downtown Women’s Center in Los Angeles. A judge overseeing a sweeping lawsuit about homelessness in Los Angeles has ordered the city and county Tuesday, April 20, 2021, to find shelter for all unhoused residents of Skid Row within 180 days. Judge David O. Carter also ordered an audit of all funding related to the crisis of people living on the streets. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes, File)