Yesterday Breitbart reported that U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter is doing his part to end the homeless crisis in Los Angeles.
The article reports:
U.S. District Court Judge David O. Carter issued a preliminary injunction Tuesday ordering the city and county of Los Angeles to ensure that every homeless person living in the notorious Skid Row district has housing by October 18 this year.
The article quotes The Los Angeles Times:
Judge David O. Carter granted a preliminary injunction sought by the plaintiffs in the case last week and now is telling the city and county that they must find single women and unaccompanied children on skid row a place to stay within 90 days, followed by helping families within 120 days and finally, by Oct. 18, offering every homeless person on skid row housing or shelter.
“Los Angeles has lost its parks, beaches, schools, sidewalks, and highway systems due to the inaction of city and county officials who have left our homeless citizens with no other place to turn,” Carter wrote in a 110-page brief laced with quotes from Abraham Lincoln and an extensive history of how skid row was first created.
The article at Breitbart notes:
Elsewhere in the decision, the Judge Carter — a Bill Clinton appointee — cited claims of “systemic racism,” and argued that homelessness is partly a result of historical racial discrimination.
In an unusually complex set of instructions, Judge Carter also ordered $1 billion earmarked by the city for spending on the homeless, announced Monday evening as part of L.A. Mayor Eric Garcetti’s “Justice Budget,” to be placed in an escrow account. He also ordered a 90-day audit of city and county spending on the homeless, and a 30-day “audit of any funds committed to mental health (MH) and substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.”
I am no expert, but there seems to be something missing here. Unfortunately a lot of homeless people are homeless because of mental health issues or substance abuse. It seems to me that until you help people deal with those issues, putting them in houses won’t matter. It’s nice that they are calling for an audit of funds for mental health and substance abuse, but they really need to look closely at how that money is spent. You can house homeless people, but unless you deal with the issues that caused them to live as homeless people, you will accomplish very little.