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From CalMatters homelessness reporter Marissa Kendall:
Workers tasked with helping California’s largest homeless population are sounding the alarm, saying a recent upheaval at the Los Angeles County agency where they work has them scared for their livelihood.
In an open letter of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, a handful of officials from the Los Angeles Office of Homeless Services say the threats of impending layoffs affect hundreds of county employees and, by extension, the thousands of homeless residents they serve.
The Homeless Services Authority is a joint city-county agency that oversees homeless services in LA County. After numerous critical audits, the county board of supervisors vote earlier this year withdraw its funding from the joint authority and instead create a new county homeless agency.
But as the county makes that transition, officials who do the hard work of getting people off the streets and into housing worry they’ll be left behind. Management suggests there will be layoffs, according to the employee letter. But workers don’t know who will get the chance to move to the new agency and who won’t, Gilbert Younes, an official with the Office of Homeless Services, told CalMatters. Younes evaluates homeless shelters in Los Angeles County to ensure they meet the county’s health and safety standards.
- Younes: “Some of us have been with LAHSA for decades. We have families. We have bills to pay. And we’re not sure how this is going to play out and affect our lives. There’s a real sense of dread.”
The Los Angeles Office of Homeless Services declined to comment on the letter.
The employee’s letter also claimed that terminating Office of Homeless Services employees would violate the terms of Measure A — a half-cent sales tax that funds housing and services for the homeless in Los Angeles County, which voters approved last year. The measure includes a section aimed at improving recruitment and retention of homeless services workers that says contracts funded through the tax must not displace government employees.
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Other stories you should know
Feds back off on homeless cuts
More from Marissa at CalMatters:
President Donald Trump’s administration has so far reversed course on cuts that were expected to halt funding for thousands of homeless shelters in California.
On Monday, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development withdrew a controversial funding notice which made sweeping changes to federal homelessness policy. The notice was there drastically cut how much funding local authorities could spend on permanent housing — something previous administrations have prioritized as a solution to homelessness. Instead, the current administration has focused on temporary shelters, especially those that require sobriety.
In two separate cases, the administration of Gov. Gavin Newsom, Santa Clara County and San Francisco suedaccusing the federal housing department of illegally preempting Congress to make the changes.
In court filings, federal lawyers said the administration withdrew the funding notice “to evaluate the issues raised by the claimants” and prepare a new notice.
It’s dark out there
Most Californians think the country is headed in the wrong direction, according to a new poll of attitudes about the policies of Trump, California’s next governor and more.
On Monday of The Public Policy Institute of California has released its latest surveywhich surveyed 1,676 California adults from November 13-19. It found that 29% of likely voters approve of Trump’s job performance, with 4% of Democrats, 79% of Republicans and 21% of independent voters approving.
Seven in 10 also thought Congress should extend tax credits for enrollees in the Affordable Care Act, which were not included in the latest federal budget bill and were at the center of the government shutdown that ended Nov. 12.
As for the state’s gubernatorial election next year, more than half (56%) of likely voters approve of Newsom, and 45% say they want his successor to continue his policies. Former Rep. Katie Porter is the poll’s leading candidate, although 40 percent are not satisfied with either candidate.
The overall outlook for the state and the country is also bleak: 74 percent of likely voters think the country is headed in the wrong direction, and the same percentage of people think the U.S. will enter a depression by 2030. As the top issues cited from 2023, 36 percent of respondents say the cost of living and the economy remain top concerns for the state.
And last: Fewer truck drivers in CA
California voices
CalMatters columnist Dan Walters: In his final year as governor, Newsom encapsulated a split image that on one hand criticized Trump and on the other sought the president’s services for sure emergency for California.
If we are serious about preventing suicideespecially among boys, then counselors and clinicians should be spared from school funding cuts, writes Ayo Banjowho led a stigma reduction campaign funded by the California Youth Behavioral Health Initiative.
Other things worth your time:
In the first year in the SenateSchiff Pushes Legislation, Party Message and Trump Challenges // Los Angeles Times
An app that tracks ICE raids is suing the USstating that employees pressured Apple to remove it // New York Times
CA signals fight over federal plan to increase Delta water exports // The Sacramento Bee
California State University unions want warning of federal subpoenas in anti-Semitism investigation // EdSource
Healdsburg launches the first of its kind Sonoma County End-of-Life Planning Program // The Mendocino Lighthouse
Under Trump, immigration courts in the Bay Area are rejecting asylum applications at increasing rates // The Mercury News
San Diego bids farewell to the USS Nimitz as the fleet completes 50 years of service // San Diego Union Tribune
