Sylvette Twiggs now lives in Supportive Housing in Panorama City. After her father passed away Twiggs spent two years homeless until she found her home. ( Photo by David Crane/Los Angeles Daily News ) The will to live led Barbara Tucker to the San Fernando Valley.Tucker ran away from her Oakland home at age 14 to escape an abusive stepfather, survived being burned over 50 percent of her body by a homeless woman, spent a seven-year stretch in federal prison for bank robbery, and slept in cars and on the streets of downtown Los Angeles after her release.
She didn’t know stability until she was placed in permanent supportive housing, a model that Los Angeles city and county leaders want to expand in their combined $200 million attack on homelessness. But critics warn that building more permanent supportive housing helps only a few at a high cost. There are nearly 8,000 such units in the city now, but at least 17,000 are needed, a report stated last week, at a cost of $3.2 billion.For Tucker, who was diagnosed with bipolar depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, housing means everything. Without it, she would be back living on the streets and in shelters.“For a minute, I didn’t trust nobody, but then as I stayed here I got better,” said Tucker, 65. “The people are very friendly. They check on you. They ask you if they can do anything, if you need to talk about anything. They have movies and games and barbecues and stuff. They just make your life better.”Cost of housingPermanent supportive housing has been hailed by university researchers, national organizations and others. It houses the homeless person first, then, through on-site supportive services, addresses alcohol and drug addictions and mental health needs.Los Angeles city declared homelessness an emergency in September and as a result, both city and county leaders are drafting plans to spend a total of $200 million for affordable housing and services. In the meantime, a report released Wednesday by Los Angeles’ Chief Administrative Officer Miguel Santana noted that an additional 9,000 beds in permanent supportive housing would be needed in the city. Each unit would cost $351,000 not including the funding for on-site social services or housing for families. Critics say permanent supportive housing takes funding away from short-term services that are just as important, causing an increase in homelessness. In Los Angeles County there are nearly 45,000 homeless people, or 12 percent more than in 2013, according to figures by the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority. Others say those who have lived on the streets for a long time may not be mentally ready for a life between four walls. Data show that at homes that have funding agreements with the Los Angeles County Department of Mental Health for supportive services, there is an overall 86 percent retention rate in a 12-month period. But the Department of Mental Health’s figures also show that in 2014:Of the 154 people who moved into permanent supportive housing, 101 people were no longer at those homes that same year.• Of those, 31 percent moved to another subsidized housing project but still had mental health services.• 22 percent disappeared or their whereabouts were unknown.• 10 percent were evicted due to criminal activity.Program draws criticsThe nonprofit Economic Roundtable released a report earlier this year that, in part, backs up the critics. Researchers found that chronic homelessness continues to grow in Los Angeles County even after efforts to house more than 10,000 people in the past three years. A lack of collaboration and agility between county departments to connect people to services was partly to blame, the authors wrote. But former Los Angeles County Supervisor Zev Yaroslavsky, who championed a controversial program that placed chronically homeless individuals into permanent supportive housing before they were treated for alcohol or substance abuse, stands by the model. The two-year pilot program, launched in 2008, was called Project 50. Its goal was to help the 50 homeless people on Skid Row deemed the most likely to die if they remained on the streets.Yaroslavsky said the housing-first approach helps people find stability and keeps them away from jails and costly visits to emergency departments at taxpayer expense. The county spent about $3 million on the program, but the return in savings produced a surplus of $238,700, according to a report released in 2012.“It’s the only thing that works,” Yaroslavsky said recently of permanent supportive housing. “Nothing else works. If we look at it systematically, the taxpayers save money by housing individuals instead of leaving them on the street. Who wouldn’t want to save taxpayers money by doing the right thing?”He said the resistance comes from those who work within the shelter community. People are reluctant to shift money away from the shelter providers, Yaroslavsky contends, because they don’t want to hurt their feelings. One critic is the Rev. Andy Bales, CEO of the Union Rescue Mission in downtown Los Angeles’ Skid Row district. Bales has run the 125-year-old Christian relief center for 11 years.He said since a United Way program called Home For Good launched in 2011 with the of goal ending chronic and veteran homelessness by 2016, the number of people living on the streets has multiplied. “Vast resources have been spent on the few, and that has left a gaping hole,” Bales said. “Skid Row is the biggest man-made disaster in the U.S.” Bales said not all those who are counted as homeless need permanent supportive housing. He said some need help with a few months rent until they can shore up enough savings to rent on their own. A variety of services spread across the Los Angeles region would prove more effective, he added.“I think the heart of L.A. needs to change,” Bales said. “We only put a roof on 25 percent of those who experience homelessness today.”Challenges of housingTucker’s determination led her to regular visits at Didi Hirsch Mental Health Services. From there, she was referred to the Willis Avenue Apartments, a 41-unit building in Panorama City. It’s one of 21 permanent supportive housing complexes in the San Fernando Valley, and among 174 across Los Angeles County. Most of the buildings, which offer social services on-site, are in or around the downtown Los Angeles area. Willis Avenue specifically serves older adults who were homeless and have a disability. It was built by nonprofit affordable housing developer A Community of Friends, which has focused solely since 1988 on permanent supportive housing for the homeless with mental health needs. They have 39 properties in Los Angeles, including four in the San Fernando Valley. While A Community of Friends is a veteran in the permanent supportive housing model, the organization still faces challenges, including finding funding for supportive staff to be at the properties.“Once you build it, that’s the easy part,” said CEO Dora Leong Gallo.“We have to worry about services,” she said. “No responsible developer would open without services.”At a building such as Willis Avenue Apartments, those services can cost at minimum $150,000 a year.Leong Gallo said she agrees funding should go to several kinds of services. She believes the city and county are serious in their efforts to help the homeless. “This time they’re talking about money and there’s an item on the line budget,” she said. “We want to make sure the funding goes to all areas. We need rapid rehousing. We still need shelters. We need to help people who are behind in rent with short-term funds, but we also need to build.”Tucker said her determination helped her, but she also knows she was fortunate to be placed in a home.“When you’re out there, you just have to have will power and go to the resources they tell you to go to,” she said of being homeless. “God has me here for a purpose ’cuz he wakes me up every day. I’m thankful.”