FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
What is A Way Home and why is it needed?
A Way Home is a comprehensive plan to address the homelessness crisis in the City of Los Angeles. It sets a definitive and measurable goal of constructing 25,000 homeless housing units by 2025. A 2019 Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority (LAHSA) report shows that the City is woefully short of the number of housing units needed to adequately address the crisis. These 25,000 units would basically double the amount we currently have available in the city.
How is A Way Home different from other homeless plans?
Unlike other plans that have been created to address homelessness, A Way Home does not take a piecemeal approach. Instead, the approach establishes an overarching goal and sets a specific timeline. Other plans have failed to set clearly defined outcomes, resulting in a lack of effective coordination between public agencies and fiscal accountability. Consequently, tens of millions of taxpayer dollars have been wasted while the crisis has spread to every corner of the city.
How will this plan measure success and ensure accountability?
The clear objective of A Way Home is to create 25,000 housing units that currently do not exist by 2025 - in short, “25 by 25”. By setting this benchmark, we can determine annually whether or not we are collectively on track to meet that goal and identify factors interfering with that effort, such as permitting rules, review and approval regulations, or policy breakdowns between governmental bodies. Disruptions can be identified and addressed in realtime to maintain the pace to meet construction timelines.
Why would the City withdraw funding committed to future projects?
The projected high cost and lengthy timelines for committed projects simply do not meet the crises facing Los Angeles. A recent analysis conducted by LA City Controller Ron Galperin found that the average per unit City subsidy to be about $136,000 in contrast to the median per-unit cost for Measure HHH projects of over $531,000. At that rate, we cannot adequately address the housing demands and the problem will continue. We need to spend limited resources wisely to create more housing to meet the tremendous demand.
How will A Way Home bridge with other levels of government around homelessness?
A Way Home recognizes that addressing the homelessness crisis requires all levels of government working together to maximize the collective impact. The plan includes targeted strategies to expand successful county, state, and federal programs with proven success. It also lays out ways to maximize land use to provided housing resources for expanding those projects. Moreover, it identifies ways to work closely with partners at all levels of government to best leverage public-private partnerships for shared goals.